I like to watch films having in mind the context in which they were filmed, so I do not mind to watch films from the past that deal with topics which today we might consider silly, pointless or strange. But in the case of In the Heat of the Night the film has important flaws in its very grounds, irrespective of the topic it deals with and the fact that it was filmed in the sixties in a context very different from what "the South" is nowadays. The plot never really manages to engage you; looking at the title you expect a story of racist prejudgments intermingled with the investigation of a crime told in a thriller-style way, and the film actually seems to try to pursue this in some moments, but totally fails, and both aspects run in parallel but are very awkwardly connected. Particularly unfortunate is the depiction of the chief policeman of the city; the clumsy script and the poor acting make one ends up having no idea if he is a racist whose attitude is changed by the intelligence and straight attitude of detective Virgil, or if he is not but has to act as if he were because of the social environment he lives in, or... who knows!? Watch Missisipi Burning, when you finish then watch it again, but skip this one.
Review of In the Heat of the Night
