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Ghosts of Mississippi (1996)

Director:
Rob Reiner

COUNTRY
USA

Genre
Drama

NORWEGIAN TITLE
Ghosts of Mississippi

RUNNING TIME
130 minutes

Producer:
Nicholas Paleologos
Rob Reiner
Andrew Scheinman
Frederick Zollo
Screenwriter:
Lewis Colick


Cast includes:

CHARACTER ACTOR/ACTRESS RATING
Bobby DeLaughter Alec Baldwin
Myrlie Evers Whoopi Goldberg
Byron De La Beckwith James Woods ½
Ed Peters Craig T. Nelson -
Peggy Lloyd Susanna Thompson -
Burt DeLaughter Lucas Black -
Drew DeLaughter Joseph Tello -
Claire DeLaughter Alexa Vega -
Charlie Crisco William H. Macy ½
Benny Bennett Lloyd 'Benny' Bennett -
Himself Darrell Evers -
Reena Evers Yolanda King -

 

Review

A determined protagonist finds human rights violations within the American justice system and decides to rectify the problem. That's a quick synopsis of Rob Reiner's A Few Good Men, and also of his latest film Ghosts of Mississippi. This is as idealistic and arch-American as movies come, both narratively and structurewise, but Reiner has perfected this type of storytelling: riveting courtroom dramas interspersed with some well-aimed social criticism. And Ghosts of Mississippi works well in this respect, even if the structure is a little too conventional and the film never quite reaches the level of suspense of its predecessor A Few Good Men. With Alec Baldwin, Whoopi Goldberg and James Woods, who was Oscar nominated for another of his trademark performances. Baldwin is solid and engaging in the lead, but cannot quite rise to the occasion in his most emotional moments. Goldberg, whose character in many ways is the film's most interesting, finds a nice angle to her part and communicates well how her mourning over her husband's death has been replaced with a feeling of pride and honour.

Copyright © 24.11.1997 Fredrik Gunerius Fevang
(English version: © 17.03.2021 Fredrik Gunerius Fevang)