A Civil Action (1998)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Steven Zaillian

Writers (WGA):

Jonathan Harr (book)
Steven Zaillian (screenplay)

Release Date:

8 January 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Justice has its price.

Plot:

The families of children who died sue two companies for dumping toxic waste: a tort so expensive to prove, the case could bankrupt their lawyer.

Plot Keywords:

Lawyer | Leukemia | Lawsuit | Settlement | Toxic Waste

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

John Travolta	...	Jan Schlichtmann
Robert Duvall	...	Jerome Facher
Tony Shalhoub	...	Kevin Conway
William H. Macy	...	James Gordon
Zeljko Ivanek	...	Bill Crowley
Bruce Norris	...	William Cheeseman
John Lithgow	...	Judge Walter J. Skinner
Kathleen Quinlan	...	Anne Anderson
Peter Jacobson	...	Neil Jacobs
Mary Mara	...	Kathy Boyer
James Gandolfini	...	Al Love
Stephen Fry	...	Pinder
Dan Hedaya	...	John Riley
David Thornton	...	Richard Aufiero
Sydney Pollack	...	Al Eustis

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some strong language.

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #36309) | Iceland:L | South Korea:12 | Philippines:PG-13 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M (original rating) | Australia:PG (TV rating) | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Norway:7 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:T | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

Touchstone Pictures

Trivia:

A number of scenes described in the book are reproduced in the film, such as Facher's asking for the hotel pen at the settlement conference, Schlictmann's meeting with Eustis at the Harvard Club in New York, Gordon's attempts to keep the firm solvent (even purchasing lottery tickets and giving money to televangelists) and Riley's behavior at his deposition.

Goofs:

Continuity: Near the end of the movie, the envelope from the EPA appears on Facher's desk before the employee places it there.

Quotes:

Jan Schlichtmann: It's like this. A dead plaintiff is rarely worth more than a living severely-maimed plaintiff. However, if it's a long slow agonizing death as opposed to a quick drowning or car wreck, the value can rise considerably. A dead adult in his 20s is generally worth less than one who is middle aged...

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 56th Annual Golden Globe Awards (1999) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Hard Workin' Man

A rare, powerful drama--one of the years best films. ***1/2 out of ****

A CIVIL ACTION (1998) ***1/2

By Blake French:

"A Civil Action is a rare, powerful drama. The reason why this film is so potent may be because of the true story that it was based on, which immediately captures the audience's attention. Or, perhaps it is because this is one of the years best and most thought out films.

The movie has John Travolta as the leader of a legal team. Travolta plays Jan Schlichtmann, the head of a small firm of personal injury attorneys. The issue here is a group of parents who tell about how their children, numbering 12, have died of leukemia, for the reason that they believe of the towns polluted water supply.

Jan argues that deaths were caused by pollution from companies called R.W. Grace and Beatrice. Duvall, who plays Jerome Facher, experienced and smart, says that it cannot be proven.

The movie was written and directed by Steven Zaillian, is not your typical courtroom drama. As a madder of fact, not a whole lot of the movie takes place inside of courtroom walls. It does not follow the conventional and tiresome formal of the hero loosing a first, the comes from behind and whips the bad guy's butt. What it does do is follow a realistic and surprisingly thought provoking idea of Travolta's law firm going father and father into debt, and how the lawyer gets in over his head in emotions and financial problems.

The performances in the film are spectacular. John Travolta's character is very well portrayed as he gives us a taste of what our legal system suffers from. John Lithgow is sort of cheesy as the judge, and coming fresh from TV's "Third Rock From the Sun," I didn't have much faith in him in the first place. Tony Shalhab recently from "The Siege," acts with little confidence, or was that just his character who was supposed to be meek? I Don't know, it's hard to tell. The real standouts here are Kathleen Quinlan, who performs with emotion and physical reality, and Robert Duvall, who was nominated for best supporting actor of the year for the Golden Globe award board, as he deserves to be.

The moral in "A Civil Action" is relevant and correct. But it is back shot from the film's characters, who were supposed to interrupt, being the bad guys in all. But if I was in charge of this movie I no doubt would have directed with more sharpness in the depressing finish of the movie. It is not satisfying and disappointing. The soundtrack leaves us with a sort of "Blah" feeling. However, if the trial was to be won to our desire, and the courtroom was to all stand up and cheer, the film would have been conventional and we would have left feeling we have already screen this film. So in other words, this movie was fine the way it was directed.

"A Civil Action," is a well-promoted salvation in the fast-falling genre of courtroom dramas.