"A Time to Kill" was a movie that really stuck with me after I saw it in the theater, and every time I've seen it after that. It is based on John Grisham's first novel and stars Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, Ashley Judd, Kevin Spacey, Samuel L. Jackson, Donald Sutherland, and Oliver Platt. It came out in 1996 and did not get a nomination for a Best Picture Oscar in a year that was loaded with great films ("Titanic" beat out "L.A. Confidential" for the Oscar).
The film is loaded with tense moments and it revolves around racism and violence against women. It is tough to watch at time, but only because it is so good.
“A Time to Kill,'' based on the first novel by John Grisham, is a skillfully constructed morality play that pushes all the right buttons and arrives at all the right conclusions. It begins with the brutal rape of a 10-year-old black girl by two rednecks in a pickup truck. The girl's father kills the rapists in cold blood on their way to a court hearing and cripples a deputy in the process. The local white liberal lawyer agrees to defend him. The Klan plots to gain revenge. Good of course triumphs–but we'll get back to that in a moment.
Here's the trailer: