A Time to Kill

So I was at a family event recently and I was, not surprisingly, bored stiff. I don't get along well with a certain side of my family. It's not like we argue-we just have nothing in common. We speak totally different languages on interests, hobbies, religion and politics. Peter Hitchens, when asked about his relationship with his brother Christopher said, "We're different people, we have different lives, we have entirely different pleasures, we live in different continents. If we weren't brothers we wouldn't know each other." Sounds about right. 

They put on the movie "A Time to Kill" with Sandra Bullock, that guy from 24, and Matthew McConaughey. When the movie starts off "Based on a John Grisham book" you know you are in for a special treat. 

I sort of agree with the premises. A father should have the right to take revenge on the pieces of human garbage that sexually assault his daughter-but my God, this is the most manipulative movie I've ever seen. Like Roger Ebert said of a Robin Williams movie, (I think it was Dead Poets Society, don't quote me on it though) "It extracts tears one by one. I've seen political ads less one sided." The prosecutor and the defense attorney of course hate each other (in real life, they usually know it's business) and the judge despises the poor defense attorney. It's the epitome of vapid-it doesn't challenge you. You are told what to think and feel.Typical Grisham? Maybe. Not much of a fan. 

Anyway, there is a scene *spoiler alert* where the defense attorney (who has more bad things happen to him than Job did) has his house go up in flames. He's sitting there in the ruins of the house calling for his dog. When the dog finally comes bounding into the scene, I started to laugh. My family hushed me and said it was "insensitive" and it might have been-but it was just so manipulative that I couldn't help it. This movie told you what to think and God help you if you didn't agree 100%