I had to kill sometime so decided to watch a movie based on a book by one of my favourite writers "John Grisham". As with most of his books, this one also revolves around a court case and proceedings.
The story is simple- a African- American father kills two white men who raped and almost killed his daughter. A young lawyer is hired to defend him and he can only do it one way; prove that the father was insane when he committed the act. He's up against a giant- a man running for governor. The lawyer is unable to get the case shifted out of the town which is made of predominantly whites-so he gets a all white jury. Neither does he have strong defences. He is helped by a young law student (Sandra Bullock) in the movie. He gives it his all-his house is burned down since he supports a black and his assistant is also beaten up. In the end a summary which is so spectacular wins him the case.
The movie is well directed, has followed the book without any changes and has decent performances. The movie saw Samuel Jackson taking home the Golden Globe; he's convincing as the father
The book like a typical John Grisham book is fast paced, racy and still very detailed to give one an image of what he is conveying.
Like most books which are made into movies, I feel the book is better. The movie falls flat because it can't be as detailed as the book is in its imagery. Also I think what makes the book better than the movie is the closing scene; the closing scene of the book had a much more hard hitting impact than what the movie had. I think Sandra Bullock was great but the lawyer could have done better. John Grisham's books demand actors who are convincing as lawyers, sadly the lead actor was not.
I'd give 2.5 stars to the movie and 4 to the book.
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