A Classic...? Really?

Rating: 6/10 (2 May 2007)

I finally saw this movie last night after I checked it out at my local library. This is a wonderful service of our state tax dollars, loading up on a bunch of DVD's that we all can check out for free. Anyways, I checked out this movie as it is called by most movie fan's as a classic and supposedly one of Gregory Peck's greatest roles, especially since he won an Academy Award for his performance. Without going into a lengthy review, I will say that I went in expecting a riveting, profound movie with excellent court scenes throughout most of the movie. While there is some genuinely interesting, thoughtfully written and superbly executed court drama going on, it couldn't have been more than 25 minutes of this two-hour movie. The remains of the time goes to the two children and what they get themselves into while Atticus is off at the courtroom. While that would have been perfectly fine for say, 30 minutes or so, it runs rampant at nearly 90 minutes of the movie. This was honestly astounding as I thought this was going to be a courtroom drama with minimal activity outside of it. This was hardly the case. Still, it is far from a bad movie, and the scenes with the children are entertaining in their simplicity of a time long since gone. And Peck, while a bit emotionally stunted (as usual), still does a very good job in his role (though I am interested in the quality of the other Oscar-nominated actors from that year because I don't see Peck's role as an Oscar winner, rather just Nomination-worthy.
6/10.