Searing thriller based on John Grisham 's first novel. Carl Lee Hailey, a Mississippi factory worker, shoots the two racist thugs who brutally assaulted his ten-year-old daughter, Tonya. When lawyer Jake Brigance defends Carl Lee in court, the small town of Clanton becomes a cauldron of conflicting emotions. With Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, Samuel L Jackson, Kevin Spacey and Oliver Platt.