So many mockingbirds

Rating: 10/10 (30 November 1999)

While Harper Lee's drinking problems most likely played a large role in why none of her other works were successful, To Kill a Mockingbird stands as testimony to the fact that she was a great American talent. How this movie could ever rate anything below a 10 is beyond me, although I do know that everyone has their own taste.
The casting was perfection. I cannot imagine anyone other than Gregory Peck playing Atticus Finch. The role of Scout was also done extremely well.
The message of the story is timeless, and in fact, perhaps more important today than ever before. Some sad aspect of human nature causes us to reject what we don't understand as being dangerous. The worst part about it is that we live such complicated lives that those we reject are often, not only harmless, but simple, gentle creatures. I content that there are two mockingbirds in this story. The persecution of a black man and the persecution of an emotionally disturbed white man stand side by side, not only as the persecuted, but in many ways as the pure of heart. To kill a mockingbird is a crime because it offers only the beauty of its "simple" song. This movie does an outstanding job of portraying what happens when we attack what is simple.