The clear highlight of the movie is Hackman's performance. He was believable in a movie in which he's definitely cast against type. He becomes the epitome of the racist scumbag he's portraying, and yet the character's nature is also softened by the writers, who introduce uncertainties about Cayhall's level of involvement in the bombing and who raise the possibility that he may be feeling remorse for what happened. Cayhall in the end even does something somewhat noble. His daughter (played by Faye Dunaway) - who witnessed him murder a black man in an incident years before - has been haunted with guilt, believing that if she had let him know that she was present, he would never have killed the man in front of her eyes. She feels guilty, believing that she's responsible for the man's death and finally asks her father as she visits before his execution whether he would have killed the man if he had known she was there. He says he would have. It sounds like a harsh and cold statement coming from Cayhall, and yet he's really telling her that it wasn't her fault and she shouldn't feel guilty over what happened. I found that simple scene very moving - mainly because it seemed to be a lie. His body language seemed to suggest that he wouldn't have killed the man with his daughter watching, but he wanted to take away her feelings of guilt.