One Of The Most Overrated Films Ever Made.

Rating: Null/10 (9 September 2013)

Widely considered by many to be one of the finest films ever made, this so-called "Greatest courtroom drama of all time" has only one segment set in the courthouse while the rest of it concerns a couple of annoying kids & their everyday life, which doesn't even have anything to do with the case. In addition to that, it's an insufferably boring film to sit through!
Based on the novel of the same name, the story of To Kill A Mockingbird is set in a fictional American town during the 1930s and concerns a respected lawyer & his family who faces a backlash from his society when he agrees to defend a young black man who is accused of raping a white woman. Through the trial, the racial attitude in town's society is exposed.
Directed by Robert Mulligan, it is surprising that the first half of the film doesn't even feature anything related to the case, which itself surfaces very late into the story. Maybe this movie isn't a courtroom drama after all, maybe it's more about the loss of childhood innocence & stuff like that but that's not what I was looking forward to after having heard so much praise about it.
Set pieces do carry an authentic feel of its timeline & location. The whole drama is captured in crisp black n white and even the night scenes are brightly lit. Editing unfolds its story at a slow pace which becomes a pain to sit through if, like me, you were expecting a customary courtroom drama and ended up with whatever this is. However, its theme of how prejudice can blind an entire society is effectively handled.
Coming to the performances, the cast of To Kill A Mockingbird comprises of Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, Phillip Alford, Brock Peters & Robert Duvall in what is his acting debut. Peck is definitely the show-stealer here for his performance as the righteous lawyer is very down- to-earth & impressive, plus that summation speech from him in the courthouse is an instant classic moment, but that same level of commitment is missing from the rest of the cast.
Badham & Alford play the two kids whose journey this film is probably about but they utter their lines as if reading from a wall in front of them, that too with blank expressions. Peters does fine with what he's provided as Tom, the convicted black man. Duvall's debut work is nothing special for all he is supposed to do in this film is to show up at a particular moment & then disappear once again. However, Crahan Denton does justice to his white trash character.
On an overall scale, To Kill A Mockingbird shouldn't even be classified as courtroom drama when it is something else entirely. Its #1 ranking in the AFI Top !0 Courtroom Dramas is the very reason why I was intrigued to check it out in the first place but to find that part in such a small dose & the story being more inclined towards those kids than the case at hand was both disappointing & frustrating. Overlong & tedious for the most part, this isn't the movie I was looking forward to. Greatest courtroom drama, my ass!