History Film / ATimeToKill

* WhamLine: [[spoiler: Now imagine she's white]]. Although, the line loses a lot of its power when you consider that in the real case the novel is based on, [[spoiler: the victims ''were'' White.]]

* TwoDecadesBehind: The premise is absurdly anachronistic, especially since the South wasn't ''that'' backward in the late 1980s and the Klan was rapidly being supplanted by neo-Nazi youth gangs by that point.

* KickTheSonOfABitch:
** The whole plot of the film is kicked off when a vengeful father kills the men who raped his daughter, which would make this trope apply for those who agree with his actions.
** Another example is [[spoiler:the killing of the KKK Grand Dragon.]] See KarmicDeath.

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: The novel was described by John Grisham as "very autobiographical" in that the novel's "young attorney is basically me" and in that the drama was based on a 1984 rape case he witnessed in Hernado, Mississippi which had made him wish to murder the rapists. Then he created a story where the victim's father did so based on that.

* PapaWolf: Carl Lee Hailey, obviously. The deputy played by Chris Cooper also counts, as he says he would have done the same thing.

** Carl Lee wouldn't necessarily have walked free after his acquittal. He could still have been sent to a psychiatric hospital, or back to jail for outtake processing. Or at the very least, he wouldn't be acquitted, just sentenced to probation like what happened to [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Plauch%C3%A9 Gary Plauché in 1984]] when he murdered his son's kidnapper/molester with the defense of "if it was your son you would've done the same".

* WhamLine: [[spoiler: Now imagine she's white]].

* BlackAndGrayMorality: What the men did to his daughter was undoubtedly reprehensible, but did that give Carl Lee the right to take their lives? If it had been a black rapist getting shot, would there be as much discussion? What if it had been your child? Well, much depends on the personal standpoint.
*** Another instance occurs when a black youth essentially murders the KKK Grand Dragon by throwing a Molotov cocktail on him and apparently completely [[KarmaHoudini gets away with it]], with there being no mention of him being arrested.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: When Jake's secretary Ethel tells him that her husband has had two strokes and won't survive another one. [[spoiler: He does have another one brought on by an attack by the Ku Klux Klan and it kills him]].
** When Freddie Lee and his friends mention calling in the Klan, the one who ends up being [[spoiler:'Mickey Mouse']] reacts in disgust when he thinks they are referring to Neo-Nazi skinheads showing already higher standards then his cohorts.

** And Carl Lee wouldn't necessarily have walked free after his acquittal. He could still have been sent to a psychiatric hospital, or back to jail for outtake processing.
*** Or at the very least, just sentenced to probation like what happened to [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Plauch%C3%A9 Gary Plauché in 1984]] when he murdered his son's kidnapper/molester with the defense of "if it was your son you would've done the same".

* IronicEcho: When Brigance asks Carl Lee to seek a lesser guilty plea, he refuses, telling Brigance that his views on justice and race are wrong, adding "Our kids will never play together." [[spoiler: At the end after Carl Lee is acquited, Brigance brings his wife and daughter to a family cookout at Carl Lee's house saying, "Just thought our kids could play together."]]
* JerkassHasAPoint: Buckley and the prosecution's psychiatrist claiming that Carl Lee is sane. They're completely right (as Carl privately admits), it's just that it's devastating to the defense's case.

* TheKlan: The UsefulNotes/KuKluxKlan plays a prominent role in the film. They support Carl's conviction, and Freddie Lee Cobb (whose grandfather was a Klansmen) enlists their help to sow mayhem. They protest in front of the courthouse, starting a riot with a black crowd, which interrupts the court's proceedings. The Grand Wizard is killed, but Freddie and the remaining Klan members continue to try to intimidate Jake into stepping down as Carl's defense attorney, doing everything from phoning death threats to kidnapping members of his team to burning down his house. [[spoiler:It doesn't work.]]

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Jake tells Ellen to leave his office, knowing that they'll succumb to temptation if she stays. She's subsequently kidnapped and assaulted by the Klan while driving home.

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: The novel was described by John Grisham as "very autobiographical" in that the novel's "young attorney is basically me" and in that the drama was based on a 1984 case he witnessed in Hernado, Mississippi. Except in that case, the victims were white, the rapists/murderers were black, and the father never killed them. So it couldn't have been ''that'' autobiographical.

* PenultimateOutburst: ''Two'' of them. One from Carl Lee and the other from Deputy Looney.

* AngryBlackMan: Carl Lee Hailey, in the courthouse, with an assault rifle.

** With the Ku Klux Klan protests going on outside the courthouse, it is unrealistic to believe that the case would be allowed to continue, and
would be grounds for a change of venue, although Jake filed for one prior to the trial. Alternately, the police would forcibly disperse the crowd with tear gas and riot gear and start arresting people. The people who organized the protest would probably be held accountable for heckling too, assuming they knew it would get that insane. This is because not only would be incredibly inconvenient to change the venue (the judge, lawyers, jury, etc all need to be moved at around the same time) but it would delay the court case and possibly even make most of the jury miss trial, which would lead to it being rescheduled which would just lead to more protests and possibly dismissal. Plus, the hecklers would probably just follow them to the new venue.

* PenultimateOutburst: ''Two'' of them.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: When Jake's secretary Ethel tells him that her husband has had two strokes and won't survive another one. [[spoiler: He does have another one brought on by an attack by the Ku Klux Klan]].
* FullyClothedNudity: Freddie tells Ellen, "I'm going to leave you here tied up naked.", but she's still in her underwear and the remnants of her shirt.

** With the Ku Klux Klan protests going on outside the courthouse, it is unrealistic to believe that the case would be allowed to continue, and it would be necessary for a change of venue. Alternately, the police would forcibly disperse the crowd with tear gas and riot gear and start arresting people. The people who organized the protest would probably be held accountable for heckling too, assuming they knew it would get that insane. This is because not only would be incredibly inconvenient to change the venue (the judge, lawyers, jury, etc all need to be moved at around the same time) but it would delay the court case and possibly even make most of the jury miss trial, which would lead to it being rescheduled which would just lead to more protests and possibly dismissal. Plus, the hecklers would probably just follow them to the new venue.

*** Or at the very least, just sentenced to probation like what happened to [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Plauch%C3%A9 Gary Plauche in 1984]] when he murdered his son's kidnapper/molester with the defense of "if it was your son you would've done the same".

*** Or at the very least, just sentenced to probation like what happened to Gary Plauche in 1984 in real life when he murdered his son's kidnapper/molester with the defense of "if it was your son you would've done the same".