Excellent child acting in slightly overrated film

Rating: Null/10 (28 January 2009)

This is a good film but it's hard to justify its claims to greatness. It deals with racism in simple terms, most of the whites are bigots and all the blacks are simple, honest and virtuous types. There are very few lines for the black actors (which is probably a symptom of when the film was made). What is commendable is the acting of the children. Their antics are all naturally believable and they run rings around Gregory Peck, the actual Oscar winner! The courtroom drama is effective but feels incomplete. It doesn't even bother to present the arguments of the prosecution. Watchable but slightly overrated.
Overall 7/10