Samuel L. Jackson stars in deep South thriller 'A Time To Kill.'

Jet, July 29, 1996

Versatile actor Samuel L. Jackson delivers a powerful performance in the new thriller A Time To Kill, which opens this week.

Jackson stars as Carl Lee Hailey, a factory worker in Mississippi whose 10-year-old daughter is brutally beaten and raped by two White, racist thugs on a drunken spree.

Jackson shoots both men in an act of passionate revenge for the shattered innocence of his little girl.

The thriller also stars Matthew McConaughey as the eager young lawyer (Jake Brigance) who is called upon to defend Hailey. Sandra Bullock, whose movie credits include Speed, While You Were Sleeping and The Net, plays an ambitious law student who assists Brigance in the case.

Also heading the all-star cast is Charles S. Dutton of "Roe" TV fame who plays the no-nonsense Sheriff Ozzie Walls; Donald Sutherland as the veteran attorney and Brigance's mentor; and Kevin Spacey as the ruthless and seasoned prosecutor, Rufus Buckley.

A Time To Kill is based on author John Grisham's novel of the same name. The book follows a murder case and its consequences in a small town in the Deep South. Grisham's other novel, The Client, was also turned into a film. A Time To Kill was filmed in and around Canton, MS.

Jackson says he understands the anguish that could drive his character, an otherwise decent and loving man, to murder. "I understand very much who Carl Lee is and the kind of struggles that he's faced with," Jackson points out. "I totally sympathize with what Carl Lee has to do and the kind of decision he has to make."

Jackson's fellow star Sandra Bullock notes, "Any father can understand Carl Lee Hailey's rage. It may not have been the right thing to do, but it was the only thing he could do. The law, which is supposed to help us, can only do half the job. The issues are so delicate that it can go one way or the other."

Grisham says his book was inspired by a case he witnessed as a young lawyer in Mississippi: "It was something I saw in a courtroom. I watched a little girl testify one day who had been brutally raped. I remember thinking, 'That poor child. If that was my little girl, I'd get a gun and this guy would be dead.' What I wanted to explore was what an all White jury would do to a Black father who did what every juror would want to do. And I wanted to explore race relations in a small town in the Deep South," he explains.

The film's director, Joel Schumacher, points out the universal pain anyone would feel if his child or loved one were violated in such a brutal manner as in A Time To Kill. 'With A Time To Kill, we have a situation which is every parent's nightmare...that their child could be violated in such a way. We know vigilantism isn't the solution, but on the other hand, all of us hope we don't have to make that decision. This is the dilemma at the heart of A Time To Kill, which makes it universal."

The trial of Carl Lee Hailey chronicles the conflicting emotions of Mississippians--White and Black, poor and privileged, Klan members and civil rights activists.

As Brigance fights to defend Hailey, his own life and the safety of his family and colleagues are jeopardized. As he struggles to save one man's life, Brigance risks losing everything. But for Hailey, a Vietnam veteran and dedicated family man, life as a Black man has always been a risk. And now, both men must find a way to transcend their differences and work together for the same cause--equal justice.

Jackson's brilliant performance in A Time To Kill is yet another testament to his versatility as a movie, TV and stage actor. The busy actor has appeared in nearly 30 hit movies, including the 1994 smash Pulp Fiction. in which he received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations as Best Supporting Actor. He later starred opposite Bruce Willis in Die Hard With A Vengeance. His long string of movie credits also include The Great White Hype, Good Fellas, Amos and Andrew, Losing Isaiah, and Spike Lee's Jungle Fever, Do The Right Thing and Mo' Better Blues.

Looking ahead the busy actor will star in the upcoming psychological thriller The Long Kiss Goodnight and the drama 187.