Not as great as the other reviews would have you believe...

Rating: 6/10 (10 November 2014)

Based on a real life case (But given the old Hollywood Action makeover) Mississippi Burning is a hectic film, with beatings, prejudice and (as the title would suggest) arson galore. You get a real sense of how difficult life in a segregated state must have been in those unenlightened times, and this combined with powerful performances by Hackman and Defoe means this isn't want you'll want to stop till the end.
As fun as it is seeing a bunch of racist yahoos get their just desserts though, I can't help but feel something is missing here. Like the bigots in question... Wouldn't it be better if they were a tad more fleshed-out, rather than simply hate-spewing caricatures of humanity? Also, the by-the-books cop vs the maverick officer thing is a tad unoriginal. Still fun to watch, but definitely a little laboured.
There is also a distinct lack of a Black voice in the film... most of the African American cast just hang about in the background with the odd line which adds little to the plot. Speaking of which... the 'cunning plan' Hackman concocts to jail the secretive rednecks at the end is both far-fetched and highly unethical. You'd NEVER get a conviction in these circumstances from a British court...
Hmm... Maybe that's our problem now... 6/10