A TIME TO KILL - DISAPPOINTMENT
Matthew Little
I just read an article that Sandra Bullock's co-star in A Time To Kill is
going to be Samuel L. Jackson. Can I just ask why producers feel that
they have to succomb to the urge to place black actors in roles of white
characters. This is the second time that this has been done to a Grisham
adaptation (the first was when Denzel Washington play Gray Grantham in
Pelican Brief). It worked out then, but that was because of the
refreshing lack of sexual tension. I didn't complain too much.
But in, A Time to Kill, the SEXUAL TENSION between the lawyer and his
assistant (the law student who will be played by Bullock) plays a decent
role in the story. The lawyer, whose name was Jake, was very clearly
described as a small town, middle-aged, WHITE lawyer with a wife and
daughter. Furthermore, the white versus white racial tension that he
faced played a MAJOR role in the story.
Look, don't get me wrong - I'm not a racist or anything like that.
Denzel Washington and Samuel L. Jackson are two of America's finest
actors. It's simply the casting formula that I'm objecting to. Grisham
said in an interview that he had modeled Jake after himself and his legal
aid after Julia Roberts (if she can't play the role, Sandra Bullock is
the next best thing in my book). I personally thought that the role of
Jake was the role that Nick Nolte was born to play.
Please forgive my ramblings. I'm just fed up with this bullshit - I
don't know why they REFUSE to stick to the book (a formula that has
already proven itself to work). I'm afraid that they have screwed up
Grisham's best novel (in my opinion) by messing around with all the
characters. Whose going to play the elderly judge... Macauley Culkin?
I do want to say that, as long as the producers felt that they had to get
a black actor for the role of a white man, at least they picked a good
black actor in Sam Jackson.
Please send any replies to me via e-mail. I'd love to hear what
everybody else thinks about this crap.
- Matt
st...@rosie.uh.edu
>I'm so pissed off I could scream.
>
>I just read an article that Sandra Bullock's co-star in A Time To Kill is
>going to be Samuel L. Jackson. Can I just ask why producers feel that
>they have to succomb to the urge to place black actors in roles of white
>characters. This is the second time that this has been done to a Grisham
>adaptation (the first was when Denzel Washington play Gray Grantham in
>Pelican Brief). It worked out then, but that was because of the
>refreshing lack of sexual tension. I didn't complain too much.
>
>But in, A Time to Kill, the SEXUAL TENSION between the lawyer and his
>assistant (the law student who will be played by Bullock) plays a decent
>role in the story. The lawyer, whose name was Jake, was very clearly
>described as a small town, middle-aged, WHITE lawyer with a wife and
>daughter. Furthermore, the white versus white racial tension that he
>faced played a MAJOR role in the story.
>
>Look, don't get me wrong - I'm not a racist or anything like that.
>Denzel Washington and Samuel L. Jackson are two of America's finest
>actors. It's simply the casting formula that I'm objecting to. Grisham
>said in an interview that he had modeled Jake after himself and his legal
>aid after Julia Roberts (if she can't play the role, Sandra Bullock is
>the next best thing in my book). I personally thought that the role of
>Jake was the role that Nick Nolte was born to play.
Wrong. Samuel L. Jackson is playing the role of the BLACK man who kills the
people who raped his daughter. Some unknown is playing the title role.
Matthew McCougnasy (sp) is the main character.
thomas
is it me or does this book kind of suck?
SJTRUOG1
>But I still think they should have gotten Nick Nolte to play Jake.
Nolte??? Puhleeze!!!!!!
Jake has to be a young and sorta attractive guy (something they tried to
make Nolte in I LOVE TROUBLE with much failure) --- I was personally
hoping David Duchovny would do it, but Nick Nolte is NOT the guy to play
Jake.
As for SLJ, I still think he'd be better in the role of Carl Lee's brother
from Chicago and that Danny Glover should be Carl Lee since Carl Lee's a
bit older than I picture SLJ in the role.
Nonetheless, should be a great movie if it sticks with the book's basic
storyline and doesn't try and gloss over it (PELICAN BRIEF).
-SjT
PS - anyone know yet who's directing?
-Stephen J. Truog
sjt...@nwu.edu
sjtr...@aol.com (at least until August)
Matthew Little
it. But I just realized that I was wrong in my statements. After
reading yet another article about A Time To Kill, I realized that Sam
Jackson will play not the lawyer, but the defendent in the case. The
first article does not state this, but rather implies that he will be
playing the lawyer. I want to say that I think Jackson is an excellent
choice for the role of the Defendent - perfect age, appearance, race,
etc... So please excuse my ramblings (see below).
But I still think they should have gotten Nick Nolte to play Jake.
: I'm so pissed off I could scream.
: I just read an article that Sandra Bullock's co-star in A Time To Kill is
: going to be Samuel L. Jackson. Can I just ask why producers feel that
: they have to succomb to the urge to place black actors in roles of white
: characters. This is the second time that this has been done to a Grisham
: adaptation (the first was when Denzel Washington play Gray Grantham in
: Pelican Brief). It worked out then, but that was because of the
: refreshing lack of sexual tension. I didn't complain too much.
: But in, A Time to Kill, the SEXUAL TENSION between the lawyer and his
: assistant (the law student who will be played by Bullock) plays a decent
: role in the story. The lawyer, whose name was Jake, was very clearly
: described as a small town, middle-aged, WHITE lawyer with a wife and
: daughter. Furthermore, the white versus white racial tension that he
: faced played a MAJOR role in the story.
: Look, don't get me wrong - I'm not a racist or anything like that.
: Denzel Washington and Samuel L. Jackson are two of America's finest
: actors. It's simply the casting formula that I'm objecting to. Grisham
: said in an interview that he had modeled Jake after himself and his legal
: aid after Julia Roberts (if she can't play the role, Sandra Bullock is
: the next best thing in my book). I personally thought that the role of
: Jake was the role that Nick Nolte was born to play.
: Please forgive my ramblings. I'm just fed up with this bullshit - I
Benjamin E. Bryant
>I just read an article that Sandra Bullock's co-star in A Time To Kill is
>going to be Samuel L. Jackson. Can I just ask why producers feel that
>they have to succomb to the urge to place black actors in roles of white
>characters.
The character Sam is going to play *is* black -- and that in itself is key
to the film. The article you read was somewhat misleading because
there is a third main character (Jake) who interacts with Sandra's a
whole lot more than Sam's does (though his character is married).
Still, I think Denzel is a perfect example of where non-traditional casting
can get you. He was excellent in THE PELICAN BRIEF and PHILADELPHIA-
both roles were written as white, but he was excellent (and in the case of
PHILADELPHIA, he added a great deal to the message). In his last and
next two films he has also played/plays roles written originally for white
actors (Brad Pitt was a major contender for CRIMSON TIDE and anyone
who has read DEVIL WITH THE BLUE DRESS knows what I mean as well.)
He even played Keanu Reeves's brother without ill effects.
The only thing about blind casting is that Denzel is about the only black actor
who has this luxury. Most other talented black actors are stuck in roles
that are few, and far between and unfortunately specifically (read: stereo-
typically) *black*. Morgan Freeman's "Red" (an Irishman, no less) was a
positive exception, but even he said he was tired of only being offered "pimps
and thugs" in his early career. (Note-- the Irish "Red" was from "Rita Hayworth
and the Shawshank Redemption" by Stephen King")
Evelyn C. Leeper
Benjamin E. Bryant <b-br...@mail.utexas.edu> wrote:
> Still, I think Denzel is a perfect example of where non-traditional casting
> can get you. He was excellent in THE PELICAN BRIEF and PHILADELPHIA-
> both roles were written as white, but he was excellent (and in the case of
> PHILADELPHIA, he added a great deal to the message).
Were both roles written as white, or was it rather that the roles were not
specifically written as black? I rather suspect it was the latter.
> The only thing about blind casting is that Denzel is about the only black
> actor who has this luxury. Most other talented black actors are stuck in
> roles that are few, and far between and unfortunately specifically (read:
> stereotypically) *black*. Morgan Freeman's "Red" (an Irishman, no less) was a
> positive exception, but even he said he was tired of only being offered "pimps
> and thugs" in his early career. (Note-- the Irish "Red" was from "Rita
> Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" by Stephen King")
There are other instances: James Earl Jones, for example, seems to
have a lot of roles where color is not an issue. John Carpenter also
casts non-white actors in roles that are not specifically written for
their racial characteristics. And way back in 1968 George Romero was
doing it in NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.
--
Evelyn C. Leeper | +1 908 957 2070 | Evelyn...@att.com
"If there were a verb meaning "to believe falsely," it would
not have any significant first person, present indicative."
-- Ludwig Wittgenstein
Jacob A Hester
> I just read an article that Sandra Bullock's co-star in A Time To Kill is
> going to be Samuel L. Jackson. Can I just ask why producers feel that
<snip>
> But in, A Time to Kill, the SEXUAL TENSION between the lawyer and his
> assistant (the law student who will be played by Bullock) plays a decent
> role in the story. The lawyer, whose name was Jake, was very clearly
Just wondering: why can't there be sexual tension between a black man
and a white woman?
Don't get me wrong; I hate the whole PC thing, too.... and sure, the
orig character was white, but if your only *major* point of concern is
sexual tension between the characters, what makes you think that they
can't do this just because S. Jackson is playing the part? Sure, he's
not exactly a sex-symbol like D. Washington, but D.W. would be too young
for the part, anyway....
Again, I do hate the PC thing, but if the acting stays up to par, the
casting, in this case, won't be too bad. They'll probably have larger
plot deviations.
JH
Mary Spengler
I must agree that Hollywood often miscasts character roles, either by succumbing to polictical
correctness or by blatantly defying it. For instance, there's no reason why Isabella Rosselini
shouldn't have played the lead in "Madison County" instead of Meryl Streep.
I DO think, however, that Jackson's talents are amazing, and that if anyone could play a variety
of roles, sexual tension and all, it would be him. Just like Meryl Streep did a good job in her "ethnic"
role, Samuel Jackson will do well in his role.
There's also a possibility that they've changed the story for the movie, which wouldn't surprise me
one bit. If there's anything Hollywood loves to do, is take a good Grisham novel and trash it all to
hell. So, it's possible there's a different spin on the lead or between the leads that justifies the casting.
Who knows, though? America should just read the book if they want the "correct" version of the story!
In article <3v0jab$e...@pangea.ohionet.org>, mli...@sol.ashland.edu (Matthew Little) says:
>
>I'm so pissed off I could scream.
>
>I just read an article that Sandra Bullock's co-star in A Time To Kill is
>going to be Samuel L. Jackson. Can I just ask why producers feel that
>they have to succomb to the urge to place black actors in roles of white
>characters. This is the second time that this has been done to a Grisham
>adaptation (the first was when Denzel Washington play Gray Grantham in
>Pelican Brief). It worked out then, but that was because of the
>refreshing lack of sexual tension. I didn't complain too much.
>
>But in, A Time to Kill, the SEXUAL TENSION between the lawyer and his
>assistant (the law student who will be played by Bullock) plays a decent
>role in the story. The lawyer, whose name was Jake, was very clearly
dan
mli...@sol.ashland.edu (Matthew Little) wrote:
>I'm so pissed off I could scream.
>
>I just read an article that Sandra Bullock's co-star in A Time To Kill is
>going to be Samuel L. Jackson. Can I just ask why producers feel that
>they have to succomb to the urge to place black actors in roles of white
>characters. This is the second time that this has been done to a Grisham
>adaptation (the first was when Denzel Washington play Gray Grantham in
>Pelican Brief). It worked out then, but that was because of the
>refreshing lack of sexual tension. I didn't complain too much.
>
-------
Just the facts