It’s time for another film based on a true story and this time it’s about a big murder from back in the day. We get to see the importance of the death penalty and how it prevents you from making an escape and also how hard it can be to track down proof for a single murder. In the end law enforcement is a very difficult career and not one for the faint of heart. However, when you can solve the case it definitely feels good.

The film starts off by introducing us to Wallace who is one of the most powerful people in the country. He basically has an unofficial empire by which he can rule the masses and escape any kind of justice. One day, someone tries to steal his livestock as revenge for being chased out of town and Wallace murders him. The murder occurred in the territory of Sheriff Potts though and he is not having any of that. Wallace made a big mistake coming onto this guy’s territory and now Potts is eager to have Wallace destroyed for it. Potts will have to assemble the evidence and fast because if Wallace is let go on any kind of a technicality, he’ll never be caught again. The stakes are high!

Wallace is one of those villains who is quite unremorseful. He really sees himself as the good guy in all of this and believes that his status and power makes all of his decisions absolutely above judgement. It’s definitely a very bold point of view to be sure. That’s what makes him a fun villain though. He heavily overestimates how persuasive he can be in a conversation. Sheriff Potts never even entertains the guy for an instant yet Wallace continues to talk and talk and talk. It’s really quite something. It’s also fun to see how one by one everyone starts to betray them and he realizes that this is actually happening. He absolutely did not count on this happening but at the end of the day most people will look out for themselves when the chips are down. That’s just how it goes.

Meanwhile Potts is a super solid character right from the start. He’s putting everything on the line to solve this case and using all of the resources that he’s got. After all if he can prove the case here he will have shown that nobody is above the law. He will have dealt a great blow to injustice everywhere and that’s just what he did. In the epilogue it’s extremely impressive to see that there were no unsolved cases during his tenure. That is crazy, I doubt very many sheriffs can say the same.

Meanwhile this was a film where there were a lot of other helpful characters as well. You had the two who attested to the murder, you had the deputies questioning everyone, local towngoers who were doing their part, etc. It was nice to really see everyone come together and it was a nice optimistic look at the world. We tend to see the more negative side of things in most cases so I really appreciated this. The movie generally has a good vibe about it. It acknowledges that a lot of bad things tend to happen in Wallace’s kingdom but we don’t see anything more than we have to. The film focuses more on things getting cleaned up than what was there.

We also get a pretty detailed look at the trial proceedings which I always enjoy. I love a good trial and this is definitely the way you’d expect it to be done. It’s all handled very professionally with lots of suspects and exhibits of evidence. Then you have Wallace really shooting himself in the foot even as he tries to prove his own innocence. It’s why you always want the lawyer to speak for you. People often think they can just go in and say what they want, but that’s a good way to make yourself look guilty. Even if you are actually are innocent, often times the last thing you want to do is go in without letting the lawyer represent you. They are professionals at what they do after all and know the ins and outs of the process.

As the film’s storyline is fairly straight forward there’s not a whole lot more to say about this one. At the end of the day it’s a pretty direct story and that’s why I give the film a lot of props for keeping it very interesting and engaging at all times. I imagine it would have been easy for this film to have been boring under the wrong hands. For a film like this you absolutely need good writing and they pulled it off.

Overall, Murder in Coweta County is definitely a good film. We’ve got some strong writing throughout and a good cast of characters. This is one of those old films that has really withstood the test of time in all areas. It’s a movie that has good pacing throughout and a pretty satisfying conclusion. It’s an event that I wasn’t too familiar with from what happened in the real world so it made the film extra fresh the whole time. That definitely adds to the entertainment value big time. I’d recommend watching this if you’re interested in the court proceedings or in seeing some justice being enacted in general. For a film like this it all comes down to the ending of course so I was glad that it really landed without any issues.