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{{work|wppage=A Time to Kill (1996 film)}}
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''
Two white supremacists (Nicky Katt and Doug Hutchison) come across a ten-year-old black girl named Tonya (Rae'Ven Larrymore Kelly) in rural Mississippi. They violently rape and beat Tonya and dump her in a nearby river after a failed attempt to hang her; she survives, and the men are arrested.
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Carl Lee is arrested without resistance, and the plot then follows the trial of Carl Lee (who is defended by Brigance) and the racial undertones denoting the trial, as well as a number of sub-plots.
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* [[Adaptation Distillation]] / [[Pragmatic Adaptation]]: [[A Time to Kill (Grisham novel)|The book]], having the luxury of time, paid a lot of attention to the jury. The DA is also more openly racist. Most significantly, the "reverse the races" thought experiment was put forth by a juror, not Brigance. The necessarily narrowed focus most likely forced it into Brigance's summation (which in the book was actually fairly "safe" and dry; it was even only paraphrased), creating a very powerful scene. Additionally, the Klan mole who alerted the police to the Klan activities and saves Ellen's life is eventually found out and murdered by them. And interestingly enough, the sexual tension between Jake and Ellen isn't as palpable as in the film, and there are moments where both Jake and Carl Lee are frankly, jackasses.
* [[Adult Fear]]: Imagine your little girl was beaten and raped, and her rapists stood a very likely chance of getting off.
* [[All-Star Cast]]: [[Samuel L. Jackson]], [[Matthew McConaughey]], [[Sandra Bullock]], [[Kevin Spacey]], both Sutherlands ([[Donald Sutherland|Donald]] and Kiefer), Oliver Platt, Ashley Judd... that's just a few of them.
* [[Amoral Attorney]]: Rufus Buckley.
* [[Angry Black Man]]: Carl Lee Hailey, in the courthouse, with an assault rifle.
* [[Anti Hero]]: Carl in theory murdered those two men for a very good reason, but at some point it's obvious that seems he accomplished nothing but empty vengeance. The fact he acted on fear of acquittal rather than after an unfair trial makes him look even worse.
* [[Asshole Victim]]: The child rapists.
* [[Black and Grey Morality]]: What the men did to his daughter was undoubtedly reprehensible, but did that give Carl Lee the right to take their lives? If it had been a black rapist getting shot, would there be as much discussion? What if it had been your child?
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* [[Infant Immortality]]: Subverted as Tonya Hailey isn't killed, but is brutally beaten and raped. Played straight with Jake's dog Max. When Jake's house is torched by the Klan, he frantically tries to get inside to rescue him, but is held back. The house collapses in flames as he screams the dog's name. The next morning, as he sifts through the rubble, he continues to call out to Max. It seems futile--until Max finally emerges from the woods, frightened and covered with soot, but unharmed and just as overjoyed to see Jake as Jake is to see him.
* [[Insanity Defense]]
* [[Ironic Echo]]: When Brigance asks Carl Lee to seek a lesser guilty plea, he refuses, telling Brigance that his views on justice and race are wrong, adding "Our kids will never play together."
* [[Kick the Dog]]: The attack on Tonya Hailey and just about every stunt the Klan pulls.
* [[Manly Tears]]: Matthew McConaughey's defense summation; [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7f-BgDgpmE done in ''one'' take.] [[Throw It In|The tears were genuine and unscripted.]]
* [[Meaningful Name]]: Judge Omar Noose.
** [[Ironic Name|Ironic]], as he's ''not'' a bigot and appears to be thoroughly impartial in his handling of the case.
* [[My God, What Have I Done?]]: Played with when Carl Lee talks with his wife about killing Tanya's assailants and tells her it's the only thing that gives him solace while he languishes in jail away from his family--"I think about those boys. . .God help me, Gwen, that's the only thing that gives me comfort." He seems far more disturbed by his lack of remorse than by what he did.
* [[No Indoor Voice]]: '''[[Memetic Mutation|"Yes they deserved to die and I hope they burn in Hell!"]]'''
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[[Category:Film]]
[[Category:Films of the 1990s]]
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