Themes: Fighting the System, Lawyers, Righting the Wronged
Main Cast: Kathy Bates, John Travolta, Robert Duvall, Tony Shalhoub, William H. Macy, Zeljko Ivanek
Release Year: 1998
Country: US
Run Time: 112 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
Directed by Schindler's List screenwriter Steve Zaillian, this courtroom drama is based on a true story and non-fiction book by Jonathan Harr. The case revolves around an incident in 1979 in East Woburn, MA, where two drinking wells supplying water to the town were found to be contaminated with industrial solvents. When toxic waste was discovered later that year, suspicions arose that the local factories caused the pollution. The residents felt these companies were responsible for the unusually high rate of leukemia deaths amongst the town's children. Anne Anderson (Kathleen Quinlan), a mother who lost her son Jimmy to leukemia, fronts an effort to bring a lawsuit against the major conglomerates Beatrice Foods and W. R. Grace & Co for their pollution crimes -- a heavy-duty problem, because these companies have the money to squash the less powerful citizens. Enter Jan Schlichtmann (John Travolta), a personal injury lawyer whose small law firm is hired to sue these industrial giants for millions of dollars in damages. He's up against Jerome Facher (Robert Duvall) and William Cheeseman (Bruce Norris), high-priced lawyers who represent the big companies. Most of the film takes place in the courtroom during the trial. It also features William H. Macy as Schlichtmann's accountant and John Lithgow as the judge. ~ Arthur Borman, All Movie Guide
Review
A respectable adaptation of a rather stuffy story, Steven Zaillian's account of a man who fought the law and the law won is never a bulls-eye, but has too many solid components to be written off as a misfire. Chief among them are John Travolta, sharp and nuanced as the head counsel, and especially Robert Duvall, who gives every scene he's in real bite. The storytelling is muddled at times, and the pacing is sometimes too lethargic, but Zaillian knows his way around the territory, and Conrad L. Hall's expert cinematography gives the film an elegant feel, especially for what is basically a highly-appointed courtroom drama. Perhaps its best attribute is that it is essentially a story about defeat rather than blind triumph, unusual for this genre to say the least. Even when it falls into legal clichés, the film has a ring of truth, and compared with the thematically similar Julia Roberts starrer Erin Brockovich, it succeeds as a real-life chronicle because it retains a core of integrity, instead of succumbing to the status of star vehicle like Steven Soderbergh's 2000 release. ~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide
David James Bomba - Art Director, David McGiffert - Associate Producer, Henry J. Golas - Associate Producer, Avy Kaufman - Casting, Shay Cunliffe - Costume Designer, David McGiffert - First Assistant Director, Steven Zaillian - Director, Wayne Wahrman - Editor, David Wisnievitz - Executive Producer, Steven Zaillian - Executive Producer, Danny Elfman - Composer (Music Score), David Gropman - Production Designer, Conrad L. Hall - Cinematographer, Robert Redford - Producer, Scott Rudin - Producer, Rachel Pfeffer - Producer, Tracy A. Doyle - Set Designer, David MacMillan - Sound/Sound Designer, Mario Roberts - Stunts, Steven Zaillian - Screenwriter, Jonathan Harr - Book Author
Befitting the emotional complexities at the heart of director Steven Zaillian's courtroom drama A Civil Action, composer Danny Elfman's soundtrack to the film is his most mature and resonant work to date -- his score evokes the picture's taut narrative with rare subtlety and depth, its serious aspirations never eclipsing the imagination which is the hallmark of all his soundtrack work. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
Danny Elfman (Producer), Artie Kane (Conductor), Steve Bartek (Conductor), Steve Bartek (Orchestration), Robert Fernandez (Engineer), Shawn Murphy (Engineer), Shawn Murphy (Mixing), Marc Mann (Programming), Ellen Segal (Producer), Ellen Segal (Music Editor), Julian Bratolyubov (Preparation)
After finding her child is diagnosed with leukemia, Anne Anderson begins to notice a high incidence of leukemia, what should be a relatively rare disease, in her city. Eventually she gathers other families and seeks a lawyer, Jan Schlichtmann, to consider their options.
Though Schlichtmann originally agrees to take the case, the lack of evidence and a clear defendant results in it being ignored. Later picking up the case, Schlichtmann finds evidence suggesting trichloroethylene (TCE) contamination of the town's water supply by Riley Tannery, a subsidiary of Beatrice Foods; a chemical company W.R. Grace; and another company named Unifirst.
In the course of the lawsuit, Schlichtmann gets other attorneys to assist him. He spends lavishly as he had in his prior lawsuits, but the length of the discovery process and trial soon stretch his assets to their limit.
Though Unifirst settles for a little over $1 million, the money is immediately invested in the remaining case against Grace and Beatrice. The plaintiff's case against Grace was far stronger for two reasons: (1) Schlichtmann had personal testimony of a former employee of Grace who had witnessed dumping, and (2) a river between Beatrice's tannery and the contaminated wells made their contribution to the contamination less plausible. The case against Beatrice was dismissed. Though Schlichtmann's firm had anticipated a much higher settlement, the dire state of their finances forced the firm to accept settlement from W.R. Grace for $8 million.
Schlichtmann disbursed the settlement to the families excluding expenses and attorney's fee. When some of the families thought Schlichtmann had overbilled expenses, he acquiesced and surrendered more of his fee. Schlichtmann would later file for bankruptcy after losing his condo and car and living in his office for a time.
A report from the Environmental Protection Agency later concluded that both companies had contaminated the wells based on new evidence from the sludge that had been removed from the site. Schlichtmann attempted in 1988 to reraise the case against Beatrice. The judge dismissed the case, citing testimony from Beatrice's soil chemist.
People involved
Afflicted Families
plaintiffs in lawsuit
Anderson, Ann & Charles - son Jimmy (leukemia victim)
Aufiero, Richard & Lauren - son Jarrod (leukemia victim)
Gamache, Roland (leukemia victim)
Kane, Kevin & Patricia - son Kevin Jr. (leukemia victim)
Nagle - son (leukemia victim)
Robbins, Donna & Carl - son Carl III (Robbie) (leukemia victim)
Toomey, Richard & Mary - son Patrick (leukemia victim)
Zona, Joan - son Michael (leukemia victim)
Attorneys
(for plaintiffs)
Conway, Kevin - worked for Mulligan & Reed, with Jan Schlichtmann
Mulligan, Joe - originally took case, passed it to Schlichtmann who was working for M&R at the time.
Roisman, Anthony - rep. of Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, put funds into case
