I think I expected something a little more heavy handed and cut and dry along the lines of "Mississippi Burning," but "In the Heat of the Night" turned out to be much more subtle. There are no speeches and really no moments of truth. Poitier and Steiger wisely play their characters as complicated, multi-dimensional people rather than the stereotypes they might have become in a lesser film. Tibbs is both aloof and seething while Gillespie is neither a bigot nor saint.
Unfortunately, the mystery angle is unsatisfying, and the solution is arbitrary (It's a perfect example of film critic Roger Ebert's "Economy of Characters" rule, which states that no one is introduced into a film without having to serve *some* purpose). I know the killing was only a catalyst for everything that came after, but equal attention could have been focused on both the murder and everything that happens because of it (e.g., "Chinatown"). I also found the movie's pacing to be excruciatingly slow, especially the first half an hour.
Unfortunately, the mystery angle is unsatisfying, and the solution is arbitrary (It's a perfect example of film critic Roger Ebert's "Economy of Characters" rule, which states that no one is introduced into a film without having to serve *some* purpose). I know the killing was only a catalyst for everything that came after, but equal attention could have been focused on both the murder and everything that happens because of it (e.g., "Chinatown"). I also found the movie's pacing to be excruciatingly slow, especially the first half an hour.