Heavens Fall (2005)
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67% of users liked it
(572 ratings)
The tragic court case that forever altered the course of American jurisprudence is dramatized for the screen in this courtroom docudrama starring Timothy Hutton, David Straithairn, Leelee Sobieski, Anthomy Mack and Bill Sage. The year is 1931, and nine black hobos have been accused of raping two… More The tragic court case that forever altered the course of American jurisprudence is dramatized for the screen in this courtroom docudrama starring Timothy Hutton, David Straithairn, Leelee Sobieski, Anthomy Mack and Bill Sage. The year is 1931, and nine black hobos have been accused of raping two white women on an Alabama freight train. The accused, who all range in age from twelve to twenty-three, are quickly sentenced to death in the electric chair by an all-white jury fueled by racism and vengeance. But as news of the convictions spreads, something remarkable happens: the plight of the so-called Scottsboro Boys inadvertently ends up fueling the fires of socialism across the globe and the case is quickly appealed to the United States Supreme Court. As each of the nine defendants prepare for their retrials in a Decatur, Alabama courtroom, self-assured New York defense attorney Samuel Liebowitz (Hutton) accepts the formidable task of representing the accused in the trial that will hold an entire nation spellbound. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Directed By
- Terry Green
- Genres
- Drama
PG-13,
- In Theaters
- Jul 20, 2006 Wide
Critic Reviews
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John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter
Heavens Fall tells its story with some interesting stylistic flourishes (a brisk montage of lawyers' closing arguments, for example) and without emotional manipulation.
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Erik Childress, eFilmCritic.com
There's little to applaud and only a base "what a shame" kind of anger. All in all, Heavens Fall is an introduction to history; a prologue whose past should be better explored.
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Cast
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Timothy Hutton
as Samuel Leibowitz
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David Strathairn
as Judge James Horton
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Leelee Sobieski
as Victoria Price
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Anthony Mackie
as William Lee
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Bill Sage
as Thomas Knight Jr.
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Azura Skye
as Ruby Bates
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James Tolkan
as Thomas Knight Sr.
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Bill Smitrovich
as George Chamlee
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Maury Chaykin
as Lyle Harris
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B.J. Britt
as Haywood Patterson
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Francie Swift
as Belle Liebowitz
- Afemo Omilami
- Joseph Lyle Taylor
- Elayn Taylor
- Lew Temple
- Ty Jones
- Ian Nelson
- Tom Groenwald
