Ebert's Review of "To
Kill a Mockingbird".
Similar contemporary film: "Blind Side".
Hollywood does scads of deplorable remakes of films that were
perfectly fine the first time out ("The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3" being the
latest travesty). Why not wise up-- "To Kill a Mockingbird" is a film
that should be remade.
Firstly, the contrived plot twists should be improved upon-- can't there be
a better way for the kids to realize that Boo Radley is a human being than
to have him save their lives?-- and, secondly, the tone could be
changed so that, as Ebert observes, the blacks in the film don't serve as
props for the virtue of Atticus Finch. (Calpurnia could be shown to
have an actual personality and life, for example.)
I didn't know this-- Jimmy Stewart apparently turned down the role because
he thought the story was "too liberal". How about that.
What is the least respected profession in the United States? Right.
And who is the most admired fictional character? That's right--
Atticus Finch, a lawyer.
September 6, 2009
Best things about the film? Gregory Peck's Hollywoodized dream dad.
Scouts funky haircut. Elmer Bernstein's exquisite theme. The lovely
opening credits, with the cigar box full of collected items that breathe
nostalgia. A skinny misfit named "Dill" standing in for the real Truman Capote.
Worst, most unconvincing moment in the film? Scout cozily sitting on the
porch swing snuggling up to the Boogey Man himself, Boo Radley (Robert
Duvall, in his debut), shortly after he
saved her life from the evil Mr. Euell.
This scene reeks of the adult picturing it as it ought to have been. But
Scout does not behave like a child who probably would not even have fully
comprehended what happened, even with Atticus' explanations, and certainly would
not have warmed up to a creepy adult male neighbor that quickly, no matter how
marvelous, as an adult, we think he really is. In the remake, have Boo
disappear as quickly as he appeared. Leave us with Scout's face,
wondering.
I usually find Roger Ebert
overly generous in his appraisals of new films, so I have to tip my hat to
him for his brave review of "To Kill a Mockingbird"-- he gives it a very
modest (for him) 2.5 stars out of 4.0, after noting that it is rated as the
29th greatest film of all time by the users of the IMBD.
I've always liked the film, but I've always been
conscious of the fact that I liked the film more than I admired
it. I totally respected the liberal
sentiment behind it. I just didn't respect the contrived plot
developments, the squeamishly overwrought emotions (of the scenes with Boo
Radley at the end, for example), or the generally weak performance of Mary
Badham as "Scout". Aside from being way too old for the part (a
problem with the book is that her perceptions and actions seem beyond her
age as given) her big scenes look as if they
were hacked together from short snippets of adequacy, rather than from a
single decent shot. This is especially evident in the scene with
Walter and the molasses. But she is affected and deliberate in all of
her scenes. I've always suspected that she did great at the
auditions but once filming started-- too late to try someone else--didn't
live up to expectations. I cannot believe that a director was happy
with her performance.
You really can't blame TKAMB for the "white
savior" syndrome: it practically invented it. But you can blame the
weak characterizations of the black characters, especially Calpurnia, on the
source material and the movie.
2019-03-15
Incidentally-- here's a piece of heresy for you: "To Kill a
Mockingbird" really is kind of a mediocre book, and Harper Lee never wrote
another novel in her life (I don't count the sequel as a genuine second
book) because she didn't have it in her. She knew that if she did sit
down and write a completely new book that her inadequacies as a writer would
be laid naked. So she never did.
This is complex because I do like
the book. It is indeed likeable, and the era, and the setting are
intriguing. But it's actually quite contrived and psychologically
trivial. There's no depth to most of the major characters.
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