the creepy byron de la beckwith ( played extremely well by james woods who got an oscar nomination ) kills civil rights leader medger evers in his own driveway , that was in 1963 . when he is put on trial he faces an all white , all male jury , of course he doesn't get convicted ( he was put on trial twice ) because the judge is the toughest and most racist judge in all of mississippi . then , for some reason , his widow myrlie evers ( goldberg ) decides that she wants to re-open the case after all this time , it's 1989 now , and most people could care less . but she soon forms a bond with bobby delaughter ( baldwin ) a lawyer who pursues the case for over five years . his job is to track down witnesses ( most of them dead ) and keep the case going even if no real evidence is found . when he first views the case as , " the case we'll work on in his spare time " is soon grows to become his obsession because " is it ever too late to do the right thing ? " he eventually gathers up enough evidence ( with the help of william h . macy , god , is he like in every movie ever made or what ? ) and conjures up a new trial . the movie stretches on for too long , do you really need to see him find the kkk members from long ago sitting in denim on a huge bale of hay ? what about the uneeded romance between him and a hospital worker ? i suppose that this is essential to painting a picture for what it was like long ago , but after a while it gets boring . it could have easily been cute to about 95 or 105 minutes , which would have made it much more of a pleasureable experience . this isn't to say the movie isn't great . i was chilled and disgusted every time woods appeared on the screen . i would have loved to see more of his performance . goldberg is also good , it's amazing that she can still act after appearing in so many stupid , screwball comedies . plus the film is rated pg-13 so younger teens can see it , yes they will be bored out of their minds , but i hope some parents force it upon their children to see this movie . it's a great movie ( and like the back of the video says ) " that every american should see . " overall , the movie is a long ( but moving ) experience , and i give it * * * stars . 
