Ghosts of Mississippi (1996) on Netflix
Medgar Evers, a civil rights activist, is killed outside his Mississippi home in 1963. His widow Myrlie and assistant district attorney Bobby DeLaughter seek a new trial for a white supremacist.
- Netflix3.8/5
- IMDb6.7/1013,807 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes43%
Trailer
Plot summary
Medgar Evers, a civil rights activist in Mississippi, is shot outside his home in 1963. A white supremacist, Byron De La Beckwith, is charged with the killing and tried twice during the 1960s; both juries fail to agree. Myrlie Evers, Medgar's widow, spends more than twenty-five years pressing for another prosecution. In 1989, after a newspaper article by Jerry Mitchell reports that the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission tampered with the juries in the earlier trials, she believes a fresh case is possible. Most of the evidence from the old case has disappeared, yet Bobby DeLaughter, an assistant district attorney, agrees to help her, though he is warned the case could harm his political ambitions and his marriage. He assembles investigators from his office, and the inquiry meets setbacks.
Cast
- Joseph Telloas Drew DeLaughter
- Lloyd 'Benny' Bennettas Benny Bennett
- Darrell Eversas Himself
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Ghosts of Mississippi (1996)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Alec Baldwin called the film "tepid" and dated his decline from it: "In '96, I did The Edge and Ghosts of Mississippi. And that's when you hear the sound of the wheels of the train screeching to a halt... Both movies were out in '97. They bombed."
- The performances of Whoopi Goldberg and James Woods were widely praised, with Woods earning a nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the 69th Academy Awards, along with a nomination for Best Makeup.
- Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert gave the film two thumbs down on their syndicated television program, both commenting that it should have focused more on the story of Medgar Evers instead of Alec Baldwin's character.
- The soundtrack, scored by Marc Shaiman, featured two versions of the Billy Taylor composition "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free", one sung by Dionne Farris and the other by Nina Simone, as well as numbers by Muddy Waters, Tony Bennett, Robert Johnson and B.B. King.
- Released by Sony Pictures Releasing, Ghosts of Mississippi received mixed reviews from critics and grossed just $13.3 million against its $36 million budget.
