A revolutionary film.

Rating: 9/10 (21 October 2005)

It is obvious from the opening credits that "To Kill a Mockingbird" is going to be a great film. Competing against David Lean's epic "Lawrence of Arabia" at the Oscars in 1962, "To Kill a Mockingbird" would have been guaranteed Best Picture if Lean's film hadn't been in the race that year.
Gregory Peck gives his best performance as Atticus Finch, the southern lawyer who takes on the case of a black man accused of having raped a young white woman.
Many town residents accuse Atticus of many things for defending a black man, and his children (Mary Badham and Phillip Alford as Scout and Jem) are even attacked at one point.
This is not a happy movie, and in fact for its time it must have been rather bleak. The hero doesn't necessarily win; it is the opposite of the typical courtroom dramas where the protagonist lawyer proves the defendant is innocent and the real criminal is put in jail.
Without giving away too much of the plot, suffice to say it's not quite so simple in "To Kill a Mockingbird." Not everything works out the way it should.
The direction by Robert Mulligan perfectly evokes the era, mixing the racial intolerance with the peachy-clean familiarity of southern America. Peck's portrayal of Atticus was named by AFI as the #1 movie hero of all time. I don't necessarily agree with this, but it is one of the most memorable performances of all time and my personal favorite of Peck's.
The supporting cast is excellent - Badham is very convincing and Robert Duvall in one of his early performances (I believe his screen debut, actually) as Boo Radley is effective also.
"To Kill a Mockingbird" is not the best film ever made and I do think some aspects of it have been overrated - I wouldn't say Atticus Finch is the best hero of all time nor would I say this is the most important film of the century, as some have named it. However, I do think it is a very well-made and effective film that manages to translate Harper Lee's story to the screen without losing its heart. It's a film that should be seen by everyone.