Black martyr/white hero: when will Hollywood learn? Following in the timid footsteps of Biko and Mississippi Burning is Rob Reiner's knee-jerk Ghosts of Mississippi. On June 12, 1963, Klansman Byron De La Beckwith (James Woods, clearly enjoying his septuagenarian make-up) murdered Medgar Evers, head of the Mississippi NAACP. Despite overwhelming evidence, an all-white jury acquitted De La Beckwith.

Evers's widow Myrlie (Whoopi Goldberg, whose emotions here range from smug to self-righteous) spent the next three decades trying to reopen the case, finding a supporter in Mississippi DA Bobby DeLaughter (Alec Baldwin, earnest and seemingly sedated), who prosecuted De La Beckwith again in 1994.

The rest is a reprise of The Chamber with pretensions of historical relevance. DeLaughter persists despite threats from racists, an alienated family, and elusive evidence. His triumph eases white liberal guilt. As for the ghost of Medgar Evers, films like this aren't going to make him rest any easier.