In Mississippi, June, 1963, black civil rights leader Medger Evans was killed in front of his house, his killer Byron De La Beckworth (James Woods) let off after two mistrials.

26 years later, Bob DeLaughter (Alec Baldwin) a district attorney for Mississippi is asked to re-open the case by Evans’ widow, Myrlie (Whoopi Goldberg) after the story broke that the juries were fixed during Beckworth’s trials. DeLaughter excepts, facing the impossible task of locating all of the key witnesses from a 26 year old murder case as his marriage falls apart and his life is threatened.

For a movie to be based on a true story of justice in the face of intolerance, that Ghosts of Mississippi constantly stumbles over its own cliché sappiness is nothing sort of disappointing. It does not have the emotional punch to move you, with the films opening credits showing documentary footage of the history of Black America, including those opposed their freedoms and those who fought for their freedoms (Evans, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King) the only exception.

Ghosts of Mississippi is a movie about a state struggling to accept the sins of its past, but when compared to Mississippi Burning or A Time to Kill it doesn’t even match up. This is due to Rob Reiner’s lackluster direction (when was the last time he made a good film?) and Marc Shaiman’s awful score making Ghosts of Mississippi seem more like a woeful T.V movie than a feature film.

Neither Alec Baldwin nor Whoopi Goldberg leave much of an impression, Baldwin’s southern accent sticking out like a sore thumb while Goldberg is very bland.

The films lone saving grace is James Woods who is spectacular as Beckworth, the smiling assassin who is secured by the thought that no white man has been convicted for killing a black man in the state of Mississippi, Matthew W. Mungle and Deborah La Mia Denaver receiving well deserved Oscar nominations for their excellent make up aging Woods.