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Nov 17, 2017EvanSchoenfeld rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
For me the role of ‘Boo’ Radley pushed this movie past being a timely study in Southern racism into a disturbing, enigmatic but hopeful study of human nature. Robert Duvall really brought it home. Who could play Atticus Finch today? A younger Tom Hanks might have brought something to the role, but he was no Gregory Peck, and that’s not today. Was John Stuart Mill one of those utilitarian thinkers like Jeremy Bentham or (don’t laugh) Jethro Tull who supposed that if people were well fed, clothed and educated the species held prospects for improvement? If human nature didn’t improve, what villain or villains are to blame? Where do these bad guys come from? Did Marxism fail because property is supposed to be sacred? Did power corrupt the dictatorship? Of course: Certainly not because people don’t want to live in a better world. A cynic might say that human nature doesn’t want to improve, but not me. If we threaten the planet today, there must be political reasons for it. Why did I say all that? Robert Duvall deserved mention, period.