Old ways die hard and even now in the fast-changing American South, some old ways die harder than others.
It's the lesson learned by Carl Lee Hailey (SAMUEL L. JACKSON), a Mississippi factory worker, when his ten-year-old daughter Tonya is brutally assaulted by two racist thugs on a drunken spree.
It's the lesson learned by eager young lawyer Jake Brigance (MATTHEW MC CONAUGHEY), called upon to defend Carl Lee in court after Hailey shoots both men in an act of passionate retribution for the shattered innocence of his victimized little girl.
And it's the lesson learned by Ellen Roark (SANDRA BULLOCK), an energetic, ambitious and razor-sharp Boston-bom law student at "Ole Miss," determined to assist Jake in the legal proceedings, drawn to the case ... and to Jake himself... without recognizing the risks inherent in both.
The trial of Carl Lee Hailey sparks a cauldron of conflicting emotions from a kaleidoscopic range of Mississippians -- white and black, poor and privileged, Klan members desperate to regenerate their dying "glory," civil rights activists anxious to keep their cause moving forward -- a microcosm of a unique place in the American landscape where time is no longer standing still.
As Jake fights to defend Carl Lee, his own life and the safety of his family and colleagues become increasingly jeopardized. Although guided by veteran attorney Lucien Wilbanks (DONALD SUTHERLAND), a mentor who has fallen from prominence, the young attorney questions his ability to face off the ruthless and seasoned prosecutor Rufus Buckley (KEVIN SPACEY).
And now, as a full-scale conflagration simmers just below the surface and threatens to explode in this small, Southern community, Jake and Carl Lee must find a way to transcend their fundamental differences and work together for the same cause ... equal justice.
Tagline: A lawyer and his assistant fighting to save a father on trial for murder. A time to question what they believe. A time to doubt what they trust. And no time for mistakes.