Holmes' Kill is more sharply focused than the 1996 film adaptation of the novel, and does a better job of incorporating folksy humor into the disturbing and at times pedantic story...we watch the defendant, Carl Lee Hailey, as a jury would; and since he is played by the magnificent John Douglas Thomson - who delivers the most fully realized performance here - we are moved by his anguish, rage, obstinance and fundamental dignity...Carl Lee is represented by Kill's hero, Jake Brigance, an idealistic young lawyer played on screen by Matthew McConaughey, who imbued him with a slick nobility. In the play, he seems both greener and more ambitious, traits that Sebastian Arcelus' nimble performance emphasizes, without making Jake less appealing or admirable.