Beautifully shot, moving and faithful to the book

Rating: 9/10 (10 June 2010)

To start with, the book is absolutely wonderful with great characters and a moving story. To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the best adaptations of a book, it is not only faithful to the source material but it almost improves on it. Do I have any criticisms? Not really, other than to say that the film is a tad overlong for my liking. But it is a brilliant film, with a beautifully crafted story that still maintains the emotional punch of the book about a lawyer in the Deep South and the effect of the rape trial on his children. The film is beautifully shot, the whole film is incredible to watch, and the score is sensitive. The script is effective and sticks closely to the book, and the direction from Robert Mulligan is very impressive. The acting is really good, I have read that Henry Fonda would have been better for Atticus Finch, although Fonda was a great actor, Gregory Peck does give a superb and career-best performance in this film. And he is very well supported by an excellent Robert Duvall as disturbed Boo Radley, while Mary Badham and Phillip Alford are very well-cast as the children. Overall, a wonderful and faithful adaptation and just an excellent film really. 9.5/10 Bethany Cox