Product Description

A dramatization of the long delayed trial for the murder of civil rights leader Medgar Evers.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16830 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2000-01-18
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English, French
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 130 minutes

Amazon.com
Rob Reiner, who used to be more interested in personal style as a filmmaker, continues to duck behind bland movies about important ideas with this based-on-fact film about the embattled white prosecutor (Alec Baldwin) who brought racist killer Byron De La Beckwith (James Woods) to justice after 30 years of failed attempts. Charged with the murder of civil rights leader Medgar Evers, Beckwith slimes up the film pretty well via Woods's somewhat showy performance, while Baldwin generously assumes the usual clichés surrounding reluctant heroes. Whoopi Goldberg is at her most stately as Evers's widow. The whole self-important production is dogged by the obvious thought that it might have played better (and to far more people than it did in theaters) on television. --Tom Keogh

From The New Yorker
Rob Reiner's well-intentioned film about the efforts of a Southern attorney (Alec Baldwin) to bring the killer of the civil-rights leader Medgar Evers to justice. Reiner's work here is less platitudinous than in his last movie, "The American President," and the histrionics of "A Few Good Men" have been kept to a minimum, but the film is bland and punchless. Baldwin does his usual top-notch work, and James Woods is good (in bad makeup) as the killer, Byron De La Beckwith (his snakelike delivery hits all the right notes), but Whoopi Goldberg, as Evers's widow, seems too contemporary. The film is seriously underwritten; the audience never gets a sense of what Evers was like, and, since it took decades to convict De La Beckwith, there's little tension in the story. -Bruce Diones
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

History portrayed responsibly.
Medgar Evers was a key person in the civil rights movement. Though as I remember it, we were not taught much about him during Black History Month.

I remember reading how he encouraged a reporter doing a story on him to focus on the Emmet Till story, because it was an example of the type of justice Black people received in Mississippi. So he was instrumental helping to shine a national spotlight on racism and the resulting violence against Black people including lynching. He also went undercover posing as a field worker to find witnesses to Emmet Till's murder who were afraid to go to Mississippi police officers because they feared for their lives.

His murder cut short his important work as civil rights leader at a time when he was needed most. The movie centers on the journey of his widow to gain justice for him, 30 years after his murder by Byron De La Beckwith. De La Beckwith was played chillingly by James Woods who gave an oscar worthy performance.

The movie from all the news accounts I read while following the case sticks close to what really happened. The performances were excellent especially Whoppi Goldberg and Alex Baldwin.

Baldwin's character is in some ways a metaphor for mainstream americans who, despite trying, are still unable to grasp that the Civil Rights movement was about much more than being able to eat in a white resturant.

I watched this with my mother, on DVD, and when Baldwin's character explains to his children why Evers fought for equality so "Black people could eat in the same reasturants" my mother said to the screen- " We fought to save our children from suffering the unjust fate of Emmet Till."

Baldwin convincingly portrays a person who because of his involvement with this case is forced to confront the overt racism he has always ignored in his family and in himself.

Goldberg portrays the manerisms of Myrlie Evers so perfectly, I had an opportunity to attend a speech she gave, and only then could I fully appreciate the subtle nuances of Goldberg's performance, which was also oscar worthy.

My only real critique was the casting of Yolanda King as Myrlie Evers' daughter. You just don't believe that Yolanda King and Whoppi Goldberg are mother and daughter. Yolanda King looks older than her in every scene. The director either did not try, or could not compensate using makeup, camera angles or digital effects.

I have not seen Yolanda King in anything else but next to Whoppi Goldberg she seems like a bad actress. It is not too bad for the film because she does not have many scenes.

I know from interviews including one he gave with Myrlie Evers on Oprah that for Rob Reiner this film was a labor of love, and this probaly influenced his decision to cast Yolanda King in this part. Many other young actresses could have done justice to this part and been believeable as Whoppi Goldberg's daughter Kimberly Elise comes to mind.

But this one mistake does not take away from the overall amazing quality of this movie - it is a must see.

Final closure to an important chapter in civil rights history
`Ghosts of Mississippi' is the story based on factual events of the final trial of the man who murdered civil rights leader Medgar Evers in 1963. He was tried twice before but both times the case ended in hung juries. It is also a portrait of enduring patience in the fact that his widow, Myrlie Evers, had to wait 30 years for final justice, all the while knowing that her husband`s assassin remained a free man.

I can't honestly think of too many movies where I have seen Alec Baldwin and Whoopi Goldberg give such impressive acting performances as compared to their work here. They both fit their roles perfectly and it shows. On the other end of the spectrum, James Woods, who also did an outstanding job, is so into his character that it is almost spooky. The way he behaves and delivers his lines just gives the impression that you're looking at total hate and evil personified in a man.

To compliment the acting, the movie moves along at a nice pace and portrays the difficulties of preparing a case that is 3 decades old along with the still unresolved issues of racism still evident in the Mississippi climate. As for the trial itself, this is also a tense atmosphere that adds realism and intrigue to the movie. If I had to make a comparison, and this being based on similar types of events, I would have to say that this film ranks up there with `Mississippi Burning' which is also an excellent movie in its own right.

`Ghosts of Mississippi' is a fine example of solid acting and directing coupled with a strong, thought provoking story. This film is very enjoyable all the way through and I recommend it to everyone.

The Fact of Racism
Growing up in a very diverse and loving community I never really saw the effects of racism. When it was taught in school it always seemed like something from the distant past. This film really brought home the fact that racism is not as distant as I once believed. It is a scary thing to see adults who harvest so much hatred towards other human beings. This film was a real eye opener.