A Civil Action
Synopsis: Jonathan Harr's nonfiction bestseller was a shot in the arm for those seeking more than last-minute heroics akin to a John Grisham thriller. Here was a labyrinthine case involving industrial pollution by two highly regarded corporations, contaminate...
Starring: John Travolta, Robert Duvall, Kathleen Quinlan
Directed by: Steven Zaillian
"The water is making everyone sick..!" is the mantra of this movie. If you have an ounce of respect for corporations, then you should watch this. This will make you hate any company that offers a 401k. In my opinion.
sem palavras... brilhante!!! quem faz direito tem de ver esse filme pelo menos uma vez na vida, pra saber o que de fato nos espera na carreira jurídica...
a very good thriller and one of john travolta's better eforts is a bout the true story of jan schlichtman, a cynical high powered attorney that represenmts personal injury cases who has spent years taking on big money cases that are easily settled in court gets a new case and several parents complaining that their children are getting sick in their small town and some even died. Eventually persuaded into representing the case, Jan originally thought it would be a hit and run case until he realized how difficult this case was going to get. Apparent a pharmaceutical company has been dumping waste in the small town's lake. Robert duvall comes into the picture as another high powered lawyer reprsenting the pharamaceutical company and doing everything he can to make this case go away even if it entails in bribing Jan. When the townfolks rejects Jan's newest settllement, Jan ends up putting everyone in the his firms's life in jeopardy to the point of putting up their homes so they can continue with the case. In the end jan will lose his career, his reputation and his friends all in the belief that maybe there is way to find the truth and to the put the guilty party to shame. As it is in the true story Jan wins the biggest case in us history and getting the families a little over 90 million dollars in settlment. With a strong suppooirtive cast wich includes robert duvall, william H. macy, tony shaloub, and kathleen quinlan and with the help of a great story, and great direction from steve zailian this easily becomes one of the more fasinating legal thriller of thew oast twenty years. Defintly worth buying.
This one kind of dragged on & on, and was not believable... that a group of attorneys would bankrupt themselves trying a case for anybody. I have enjoyed Travolta and Macy in other films, like Wild Hogs, but they were morose in this one.
"A Civil Action" is a well made film, intelligent, and it leads you to think for a while. That makes it different from countless other lawyer films where they make heroes out of the lawyers BEFORE getting you to think about the case and its implications. Here, although Travolta surely makes his character a hero since the beginning, what really draws our attention is the case itself, the commentary about our capitalist culture and the cost of humans and ecology to support our economic system. Hence, it's a good, balanced film: not boring but not over-sentimental.
As a journalistically driven film, this one is rather level-headed and cleverly conceived. And just when I was starting to feel that the film might be heading toward the audience pandering end of the pool (with the "I would do it all over again" speech), the ending comes and it's so tasteful and objective that its hard to complain.
Very interesting story. Was based on true events & very interesting the lengths and amount of sacrifice these lawyers went to, to get this case taken care of.
Not sure how well suited Travolta is to being an attorney but this works well enough. Duvall is excellent as the 'bad' lawyer. A good story. Very similar, and slightly inferior, to John Grisham's The Rainmaker.
Cynical personal injury lawyer, Jan Schlichtmann (Travolta), noramlly backs away from any case where he is not sure he can win. When a distressed mother (Quinlan) asks him to take on a case involving the death of eight children from lukemia in a small town, Schlichtmann says he is not interested. But when he realises that there is a case to be made for local industries polluting the water and causing the children's death, he decides to take on two large organisations and their respective highly-educated lawyers (Duvall and Norris). Struggling for resources and support, Schlichtmann goes against his usual principals and embraces new ones, but these might cost him his career and reputation.
Apparently based on a true story, "A Civil Action" is at times a taut and insightful look into high-powered legal politics and principals. Travolta plays a typical cut-throat 'show me the money' lawyer whose inferiority complex regarding his modest education, comes to the fore during the biggest case of his career. Eager to prove he can cut it in the big-time, he pursues the big corporations through the courts rather than accept a settlement, as he normally does.
He performs as well as you would expect but is often outshone by Quinlan's realistic portrayal of a grieving mother and James Gandolfini's righteous employee who wants to see justice done. As expected, Duvall's portrayal of the self-confident and ultra-clever opposition lawyer is a treat and the likes of William H Macy and John Lithgow do not disappoint either.
It doesn't strike me as a movie that matches it's billing (the greatest legal thriller of all time), but it is fulfilling enough to be worth watching.
Great story about a lawyer who develops a conscience during the trial of a corporation accussed of dumping toxic chemicals. "if they're willing to give it, its not enough." If only all lawyers could dvelop a conscience. :)
This wasn't a bad movie at all. Kind of reminded me of those movies that are based on John Grisham novels.(which I do love). It was a good story that kept my interest.
A well made court room drama. John Travolta gives a believable performances and the supporting cast are wonderful but it is Robert Duvall who is terrific in his Oscar nominated role. The plot isn't anything new but it is still compelling and the cinematography is nicely done.
The novel is a good read, too. Travolta plays a Massachussetts lawyer, defending five families against a local leather processing plant.
The children die,one after the other, when it is discovered that the company had poisoned their precious water
source with chemical toxins.
A Civil Action is the very definition of an average film that could have been better. I have never read the novel by Jonathan Harr however I hear good things. I can't help but imagine how dissapointed some viewers were after reading the novel. A Civil Action was decent but very bland and almost meaningless scenes polluted the film into it's mediocre success. John Travolta is a fine actor but not qualified for the person I would imagine the lawyer to be. With the acception of Robert Duvall's clever performance, the rest of the cast appeared to be bored with themselves. A Civil Action had the potential to be an Oscar contender but the cast and crew did not put enough effort into great material that deserved much better. This is an okay courtroom drama but just about every viewer will end up with a feeling of wanting more as it is over. I was one of those viewers.
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