Hey, Boo: Harper Lee and 'To Kill a Mockingbird' (2010)
-
77% of critics liked it
(31 reviews) -
78% of users liked it
(232 ratings)
Fifty years after winning the Pulitzer Prize, To Kill a Mockingbird remains a beloved bestseller and quite possibly the most influential American novel of the 20th Century. Nearly one million copies are sold each year and the novel has been translated into more than forty languages worldwide. The… More Fifty years after winning the Pulitzer Prize, To Kill a Mockingbird remains a beloved bestseller and quite possibly the most influential American novel of the 20th Century. Nearly one million copies are sold each year and the novel has been translated into more than forty languages worldwide. The film version, starring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch, won a trio of Academy Awards, and the U.S. Postal Service's new stamp honoring Peck depicts him wearing glasses, as Finch. Behind it all was a young Southern girl named Nelle Harper Lee, who once said that she wanted to be South Alabama's Jane Austen. Hey, Boo explores Lee's life and unravels some of the mysteries surrounding her, including why she never published again. Containing never-before-seen photos and letters and an exclusive interview with Lee's sister, Alice Finch Lee, the film also brings to light the context and history of the novel's Deep South setting and the social changes it inspired after publication. Oprah Winfrey, Tom Brokaw, Anna Quindlen, Rosanne Cash, Wally Lamb, Richard Russo, Scott Turow, Andrew Young and others reflect on the novel's power, influence, and popularity, and the many ways it has shaped their lives. --(c) First Run Features
- Directed By
- Mary Murphy
- Genres
- Documentary, Special Interest
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- May 13, 2011 Limited
- On DVD
- Jul 18, 2011
- Studio
- First Run Features
Critic Reviews
-
Stephanie Merry, Washington Post
Between interviews about the merits and courage of the novel and clips from the 1962 film adaptation that earned Gregory Peck an Academy Award, Mary McDonagh Murphy's directorial debut offers up a few morsels of fresh material.
-
Mark Feeney, Boston Globe
Here's a riddle. Why is any documentary about Harper Lee like a doughnut? Because both have a hole in the middle.
-
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
Harper Lee hasn't been interviewed in 47 years, but this meditation on her only novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, puts you inside her skin.
-
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor
It would have been wonderful if Lee had consented to an interview for this documentary, but at least we have, among many others, her 99-year-old sister Alice.
-
Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter
Fascinating documentary about the reclusive author and her sole literary masterpiece.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
Featured Audience Ratings
Currently unavailable on Flixster
Also available on
Other Retailers
Not Available
Not Available
Subscription Services
Not Available
Not Available
Cast
-
Jennifer Laird White
as Voice
-
Jane Beasley
as Voice
-
Bob Mayer
as Voice
-
Christopher Seward
as Voice
-
Donna Coney Island
as Voice
- Mary Badham
- Tom Brokaw
- Rosanne Cash
- Oprah Winfrey
- Andrew Young
- Richard Russo
- Mark Childress
- Allan Gurganus
- Scott Turow
- James Patterson
- Anna Quindlen
- Adriana Trigiani
- James McBride
- Michael Brown
- Boaty Boatwright
- Rick Bragg
- Joy Brown
- Reverend Thomas Lane Butts
- Jane Ellen Clark
- David Kipen
- Wally Lamb
- Alice Finch Lee
- Diane McWhorter
- Jon Meacham
- Lizzie Skurnick
- Lee Smith
- Mary Tucker
