It’s a sin. You can find this stuff for yourself, although you are as likely to find quotes from the book, as from the movie.

“Your father’s right,” she said. “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy … but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”

This is one of those movies that just doesn’t move along so simply. It almost requires the kind of patience that goes into reading a good book. The plot moves along slowly, switching between adult themes and childhood innocence and boogie-man fears. There were a couple of times during the movie where I had to remind myself that we had come to see it on the big screen for the experience. Had we been at home, I would definitely have been out of my seat from time to time, just so I would have something else to do, while waiting to further developments.

That’s one of the benefits of going to a theatre, I suppose. The fact that you are there for a singular purpose certainly helps to focus your attention on the entertainment. Often, I find myself watching so much more than the movie - little details of things; like peripheral objects, lines spoken that seem out of place, expressions on faces, anything physical that should not be in the scene.

I neglected telling you in my last review that at the end of Roman Holiday, there’s a scene where you can see the bottom of the boom microphone. It moves along left to right as Gregory Peck stands there, drinking in the import of his situation. That kind of stuff fascinates me - the idea that they didn’t see that in the editing room and filter it out for us.

Back to our movie; To Kill a Mockingbird is a study in culture. It shines a light on ideas like racial prejudice, assumptions made, irrational fears, community standards, and integrity. You can’t help but love the children in this story. And, of course, you get to feel the pain of Atticus, as he is simultaneously burdened and enlightened in his role as a single parent.

This is not one of those movies you can easily rate. No number of stars would seem to spell it out clearly for your readers. Would I see it again? Probably not. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth seeing. The big screen experience and the intimacy of a movie theatre definitely made it worth a second look.