A Mississippi district attorney and the widow of Medgar Evers struggle to finally bring a white racist to justice for the 1963 murder of the civil rights leader.A Mississippi district attorney and the widow of Medgar Evers struggle to finally bring a white racist to justice for the 1963 murder of the civil rights leader.A Mississippi district attorney and the widow of Medgar Evers struggle to finally bring a white racist to justice for the 1963 murder of the civil rights leader.
- Nominated for 2 Oscars
- 2 wins & 9 nominations total
Joe Tello
- Drew DeLaughter
- (as Joseph Tello)
Alexa PenaVega
- Claire DeLaughter
- (as Alexa Vega)
Ben Bennett
- Benny Bennett
- (as Lloyd 'Benny' Bennett)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaYolanda King, the daughter of civil rights activist Martin Luther King, portrayed Medgar Evers' daughter Reena Evers in this film.
- GoofsWhen the DeLaughter and his investigators drive up to a gas station, the prices for gas are all under a dollar. When DeLaughter is on the phone to Myrlie Evers standing on the other side of the signs, the prices are all now over a dollar.
- Quotes
Myrlie Evers: [quoting Medgar Evers] When you hate, the only person who suffers is you, because most of the people you hate don't know it and the others don't care.
- SoundtracksI Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free
Music by Billy Taylor
Lyrics by Billy Taylor and Dick Dallas
Performed by Dionne Farris
Courtesy of Columbia Records
By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing
Featured review
A story worth telling, well told
Based on fact and directed by Rob Reiner, Ghosts recounts the investigation, and retrial in 1994 - after two mistrials in the 60s - of Byron de la Beckwith for the racist shooting in 1963 of Medgar Evers, an NAACP activist. The film has gained renewed topicality with the recent conviction of another white supremacist for the Birmingham, Alabama, Baptist Church bombing, also in 1963.
Alec Baldwin gives a solid, and sometimes stolid, performance in the central role of prosecuting DA, Bobby DeLaughter (pronounced DeLaw), himself from Mississippi's white uppercrust, whose marriage hits the rocks because of his pursuit of the case. James Woods, convincingly made up to look over 70 for most of the movie, is electrifying as the arrogant, hateful Beckwith. Whoopi Goldberg portrays Medgar's widow with a lot of dignity and even a touch of humour, but it would have been understandable if she had also displayed a little more bitterness.
The movie is possibly not as powerful as Reiner hoped, partly no doubt because he was restricted by the facts. In particular, the retrial seems to have thrown up little or no new evidence, thus making the courtroom action less dramatic than in a fictional movie. Perhaps a greater criticism is that the intense focus on Baldwin/DeLaughter, who is in almost every scene, tends to turn him into the hero of the movie; whereas it should be Medgar Evers, who as a civil rights activist in one of the most bigoted areas of the USA deserves everyone's undying admiration.
Despite the movie's flaws, it is gripping for most of its 130 minutes, and this was certainly a story worth telling.
Alec Baldwin gives a solid, and sometimes stolid, performance in the central role of prosecuting DA, Bobby DeLaughter (pronounced DeLaw), himself from Mississippi's white uppercrust, whose marriage hits the rocks because of his pursuit of the case. James Woods, convincingly made up to look over 70 for most of the movie, is electrifying as the arrogant, hateful Beckwith. Whoopi Goldberg portrays Medgar's widow with a lot of dignity and even a touch of humour, but it would have been understandable if she had also displayed a little more bitterness.
The movie is possibly not as powerful as Reiner hoped, partly no doubt because he was restricted by the facts. In particular, the retrial seems to have thrown up little or no new evidence, thus making the courtroom action less dramatic than in a fictional movie. Perhaps a greater criticism is that the intense focus on Baldwin/DeLaughter, who is in almost every scene, tends to turn him into the hero of the movie; whereas it should be Medgar Evers, who as a civil rights activist in one of the most bigoted areas of the USA deserves everyone's undying admiration.
Despite the movie's flaws, it is gripping for most of its 130 minutes, and this was certainly a story worth telling.
helpful•234
- Geofbob
- Jul 14, 2001
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $36,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $13,323,144
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $168,012
- Dec 22, 1996
- Gross worldwide
- $13,323,144
- Runtime2 hours 10 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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