Recommended

Rating: 7/10 (25 October 2017)

​'TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD' - 1962
Directed by Robert Mulligan
Starring Gregory Peck, Mary Badham and Phillip Alford
Plot Overview: ​Scout Finch (Mary Badham), 6,and her older brother, Jem (Phillip Alford), live in sleepy Maycomb, Ala., spending much of their time with their friend Dill (John Megna) and spying on their reclusive and mysterious neighbour, Boo Radley (Robert Duvall). When Atticus (Gregory Peck), their widowed father and a respected lawyer, defends a black man named Tom Robinson (Brock Peters) against fabricated rape charges, the trial and tangent events expose the children to evils of racism and stereotyping.
This might be a movie that I am just not understanding in the slightest. It may genuinely be a testament of cinematic perfection. But, as it stands, I was immensely disappointed by this movie. Is it a poor movie? No. Not at all. In fact, there is a portion of this movie that could stand as one of the greatest 'Acts' in Film history. But the meat surrounding this Act was very lacklustre and poor for me. I am very sad to say that 'To Kill A Mockingbird' disappointed me.
But what do I actually like about it? The portion between the first half and last 20 minutes was cinematic perfection. I am serious. I won't specifically say what happens but I will say that it is literally perfect. As for the film surrounding that part, that is a different story for me, but that does not detract from the masterful film making shown my the actors and Mulligan during that sweet, sweet 40 or so minutes.
I also loved Gregory Peck in this film. He delivers a heartfelt, slow and meaningful performance as Articus. You can really see a passion and intelligence lurking beneath his calm, steady and articulate demeanour. Peck well and truly deserved his Oscar for this outstanding performance.
Brock Peters was also incredible in his, unfortunately, minute role as Tom Robinson. Peters and the writers do excellent jobs in creating sympathy for this character and truly showing the injustice of the situation he finds himself in. I was very disappointed that he did not at least receive an Oscar nomination for this role; it was truly excellent.
Phillip Aldford was good as Jem. The character wasn't exactly likable or interesting but I do admire their attempt at giving him an arc. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about Mary Badham's Scout for me. It baffles me as to how she earned an Oscar Nomination because I found her performance to be bland and very poor. And Scout as a character was also very disappointing. I mean, she wasn't likable, interesting and I fail to see a true arc for her.
Another flaw that I have with this film is the very mediocre beginning and end. The middle is, as stated prior, true cinematic gold. The remainder of the film is a dull, bland, uninteresting, monotonous mess. I fail to see the brilliance in it and, while the message of the film is strong and prosperous, the execution of it was not.
Then there is the very annoying ending. Maybe I am an idiot but I did not understand what was happening in the ending of this film. It was very confusing. I understand WHAT happened but I cannot fathom as to why. Perhaps my attention merely lapsed for those precious couple of seconds for the grand reveal but that doesn't change my distaste for it. That, and that man was absurdly creepy.
In conclusion, I was unfortunately disappointed by 'To Kill A Mockingbird'. It's not a bad movie by any means, and when it gets it right, it gets it right. But the overall package did not live up to the expectations I had. It was a little over average and the middle on its own would achieve an easy 10/10. Despite that claim, the middle was the middle, and it had the beginning and end bogging it down. Do see this film, though. The message is very important and it features an impeccable middle and performance from Gregory Peck. Aside from that though, it was not that great. I'll rate 'To Kill A Mockingbird' 7 'Creepy Men in the Corner' out of 10.