Ghosts Of Mississippi is the true story of the murder trial of Byron De La Beckwith (James Woods). Beckwith was accused of killing civil rights leader Medgar Evers in 1963, but his first trial ended in a mistrial, as did his second trial. Now (in 1989) Evers’ widow (Whoopi Goldberg) wants to reopen the trial, and put Beckwith behind bars for good. Assistant District Attorney DeLaughter (Alec Baldwin) is on the case. I was truly disappointed with this movie. First of all, I still know nothing about Medgar Evers. I understand that the movie was about the trial, but I think having a little more background on Evers would have been useful in understanding why this was such a big deal. As for the real-life characters, if this is how these people were in real life, then they must be living in a movie. I know that when you put a true story on to the big screen, certain liberties are taken so that the movie is more Hollywood-esque. But sometimes you can get too Hollywood, and forget the point of the movie. DeLaughter loses his wife because she doesn’t agree with what he’s doing. Well why not? That never really gets explained, she just sounds like a spoiled brat, then walks out on him. Then he meets this wonderful woman in a hospital who does believe in what he’s doing, and somehow, without seemingly getting divorced from his first wife, he marries the new woman. The whole movie seemed a bit too planned out, and I can’t believe that the real trial went so smoothly. Once again I realize I don’t like Alec Baldwin as a leading man, and the supporting cast, including Whoopi, seems to have no emotion. This movie could have been done a lot better, and maybe, in time, someone else will do a movie on Medgar Evers, and make it seem real.

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