Ghosts of Mississippi 

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Rob Reiner continues the rather dubious tradition of films that portray forward-thinking white guys saving poor victimized blacks. Whether sublime ("To Kill a Mockingbird"), decent ("Mississippi Burning") or average ("A Time to Kill"), I'm getting the feeling that Hollywood doesn't believe any Southern Black has ever saved himself. One exception to this movie rule is "The Long Walk Home," heartbreakingly rendered by Whoopi Goldberg, who, ironically, is also the best thing about "Ghosts." She plays the wife of slain civil-rights leader Medgar Evers, and delivers a few of the movie's best saintly taglines. James Woods plays De La Beckwith—the racist hate-monger who killed Evers—with a slimy venom that has become his trademark. Alec Baldwin is okay as the the D.A. who re-opens the case after 30 years, but one gets the feeling that director Reiner is again venturing into emotional territory that he is entirely too addled by mainstream screenplays to understand.

—Ian Williams

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