Ghosts of Mississippi
From Harpo's Juke Joint
Ghosts of Mississippi Is it ever too late to do the right thing?
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| Released | December 25, 1996 | |
| Distributor | Columbia Pictures | |
| Director | Rob Reiner | |
| Producer(s) | Rob Reiner | |
| Frederick Zollo | ||
| Nicholas Paleologos | ||
| Andrew Sheinman | ||
| Writer(s) | Lewis Collick | |
| Starring | Whoopi Goldberg | |
| Alec Baldwin | ||
| Craig T. Nelson | ||
| Bill Cobbs | ||
| Virginia Madsen | ||
| James Woods | ||
| Runtime | 130 min | |
| Rated | PG-13 | |
| Total US gross | $13,323,144 | |
Ghosts of Mississippi is the 10th film directed by Rob Reiner of Spinal Tap fame. It is available on VHS and DVD.
Contents |
Plot
Ghosts of Mississippi begins on June 11, 1963, the night that President John F. Kennedy gave his famous speech on civil rights. That same night, Byron De La Beckwith beat Evers home, hiding in the bushes across the street to wait for the arrivalof civil rights leader Medgar Evers. When Medgar stepped out of his car, Beckwith shot Evers in the back, and he bled to death in front of his family. Evers was 37 years old, and left behind a wife, Myrlie (Whoopi Goldberg) and three young children.
Beckwith is arrested, but is treated like a hero in his community and is immediately bailed. During Myrlie's testimony at Beckwith's murder trial, a former Mississippi governor makes an appearance in court just to shake Beckwith's hand in front of the jury, which has already been intentionally loaded with Beckwith sympathizers. After two hung juries, Beckwith is free to go about his life, while Myrlie tries to pick up the pieces of hers.
Fast forward to October 1989. Bobby DeLaughter (Alec Baldwin) is a simple Mississippi attorney and family man who meets Myrlie Evers-Williams (Myrlie remarried in 1976) when she and her attorney Morris Dees (MacLean Stevenson) come to the Hinds County courthouse to pursue another trial against De La Beckwith, thanks to a story detailing the jury tampering by journalist Jerry Williams. Dees is stunned to find that nearly all of the original evidence - including the gun used to shoot Evers and the bullet that killed him - is now missing, along with the original court transcript. DeLaughter sympathizes with Williams, but gently suggests that she let it go. She tells him that she'd tell the same thing to Medgar, who would reply: "I don't know if I'm going to heaven or hell, but I'm going through Jackson."
Despite his wife's objections and his parents' disregard for blacks altogether, DeLaughter finds himself drawn to the case. He realizes that he is the same age as Evers when he was killed, and has three children like Evers did. When he calls Williams to tell her he is going to look into the case, he asks, "What kind of man shoots another man in the back in front of his own children?" It costs him five years of his life, as well as his marriage. But the more obstacles DeLaughter faces, the more he's determined to see the right thing done - and the more disgusted he becomes with the people who live around him.
Bobby's enthusiasm comes to a screeching halt when Jerry Williams decides to leak a crucial detail about the investigation to the press, which lets Myrlie know that Bobby hasn't been completely forthcoming with her or to the community. Suddenly, Bobby is being dubbed as a racist who is simply stalling for time. Peters decides to pull Bobby off the case and bring in a black attorney, which infuriates and hurts Bobby. He calls Williams and promises her that he will do all that he can to see Beckwith in jail, but that he needs her support to do it, but she hangs up on him. The next morning, Williams shows up at his office with a surprise of her own, showing that she is also guilty for holding back vital information. Ready to set aside her mistrust of Bobby, the two find themselves fully on the same side for the first time.
Awards & Nominations
The Academy Awards
- Nominated, James Woods for Best Supprting Actor as Byron de la Beckwith
- Nominated, Matthew W. Mungle & Deborah La Mia Denaver for Best Makeup
Goofs & Trivia
- Excluding the flashback of Ever's assassination, Ghosts begins in 1989 and ends in 1994. But the same actors playing Bobby DeLaughter's children are used from the beginning of the movie until the end.
- Van and Darrell Evers, sons of Medgar, make cameo appearances in this film; so does Yolanda King, daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King.
