Movies:
A Civil Action |
DVD Release
- Release Date: 1999
- Widescreen 1.85:1 aspect ratio
- cc
- Dolby Digital 5.1 audio
- French-language track
- Production featurette
- Theatrical trailer
- Chapter search
- Rating:
- Genre: Drama
- Movie Type: Docudrama, Courtroom Drama
- Themes: Fighting the System, Star Lawyers, Righting the Wronged
- Director: Steven Zaillian
- 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 GuideReview
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 GuideCast
- John Travolta - Jan Schlichtmann
- Robert Duvall - Jerome Facher
- Tony Shalhoub - Kevin Conway
- William H. Macy - James Gordon
- Zeljko Ivanek - Bill Crowley
- Kathy Bates - Judge (uncredited)
Bruce Norris - William Cheeseman; John Lithgow - Judge Skinner; Kathleen Quinlan - Anne Anderson; Peter Jacobson - Neil Jacobs; Sydney Pollack - Al Eustis; James Gandolfini - Al Love
