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Article: Mississippi Burning.
- Article from:
- National Review
- Article date:
- March 10, 1989
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1989 National Review, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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SOME MOVIES, however defective, have success built into them. A picture such as Mississippi Burning, provided only that it does not shy a way from vio lence-which, Lord knows, it doesn't-cannot but make a killing. To see sheeted or unsheeted rednecks beating, burning, and lynching away is irresistible to viewers outside the South (and perhaps also inside), and pyromaniacs should get their money's worth from the plethora of burn ing homes, schools, and churches crumbling rafter by lingeredon rafter. And then there is the copsand-robbers story of how Ward, a prim FBI agent, and Anderson, a hearty former Mississippi sheriff, crack the murder case of three (here unnamed) ...