Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Lumsdal Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

Bergorks If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Paul J. Nemecek A Civil Action could easily have been turned into a highly stylized formula courtroom drama. In choosing not to take this route, director Steven Zaillian (Searching for Bobby Fisher) resists the temptation to make an easy hit, and goes instead for a thoughtful work of art. Good directors know when the best thing you can do is to avoid artificial contrivances and let the story speak for itself.I first read Jonathan Harr's book A Civil Action about a year ago. The book is the story of a real case in Woburn, Massachusetts. When an abnormally high number of children are diagnosed with leukemia, the parents in the area become convinced that the fault is in the water supply, and that the water supply has been poisoned by two factories in the area.John Travolta plays real-life attorney Jan Schlichtmann, a personal injury lawyer with a reputation for a large ego, courtroom showboating, and a flamboyant lifestyle. Initially Schlichtmann is ready to turn down the case as a losing proposition. When he discovers that huge multinational corporations own the local factories, the lure of deep pockets is hard to resist, and he convinces his partners that the firm should take the case.As the case unfolds, there are small successes and some major setbacks. It would be easy in this kind of film to depict an emotionally charged dramatic transformation of the central character. While Schlichtmann is transformed, the change is neither dramatic nor sweeping. It is Zaillian's choice to play it this way that makes this film better than average fare. The story has a power of its own; the understated transformation is exactly the right choice.The story is enhanced by Conrad Hall's cinematography and by some excellent acting by Travolta, Robert Duvall, John Lithgow, William H. Macy, Kathleen Quinlan, and many others. Duvall and Macy especially are at their idiosyncratic best. The film is very faithful to the story as recorded in Harr's book. Of necessity, events are compressed and details deleted. Such is the nature of the medium. To Zaillian's credit, the power of the story comes through beautifully. The end result is a well-told story of injustice, negligence, ego, and power that ends up as a winning hand without resorting to stacking the deck.

Glen F why is this movie so poorly rated? it involves plenty of human emotions. death of a child, arrogance, recognition of arrogance, redemption, etc. You have James Gandolfini in a good role. Bobby Duval is excellent as is John Travolta and Sydney Pollack and others. I think it's a wonderful movie and I bought it on DVD and watch it every time it's on TV. Give it a viewing.

dunmore_ego In movies, the good guys always seem to win court cases. Over an ingratiating orchestra swell, no less. But in reality, good or bad has nothing to do with the outcome of court cases. It's how you play the game. If you can afford to be in the game in the first place.A CIVIL ACTION is based on a real life Massachusetts court case, novelized by Jonathan Harr, about a group of families suing two factories in their Woburn locale, accusing them of polluting the town water supply and causing the leukemia deaths of their children. The factories were owned by corporations, and though a settlement was reached, even as the pittance was being paid out, it broke the back of the lawyer who represented the families and destroyed the spirits of the already-shattered families.John Travolta is lawyer Jan Schlichtmann, who informs us during the opening credits that a lawyer would be doing his clients a disservice were he to get emotionally involved with their case. Then for dramatic arc, and in real life it would seem, Jan went against his own principles and tongue-kissed the case to bed every night and woke with its morning breath in his nostrils every day.Robert Duvall is veteran lawyer Jerome Facher, his doddering, distracted persona disguising a clinical tactician who outplays Jan at every step of the game precisely because he is not emotionally involved. And has no desire to unearth any ethics or truth in the case. When Jan tells him that the families he represents want the truth about the contaminated water, Facher replies amusedly, "Are we talking about a court of law? A court isn't the place to find the truth... This case stopped being about dead children the minute it entered the justice system, the minute you filed the case." William H. Macy is Jan's accountant, who helplessly watches the firm go broke against his desperate mortgaging of all their homes as collateral and selling all their office furniture; Tony Shalhoub and Zeljko Ivanek are Jan's snowed under assistants.John Lithgow is the forceful, biased judge, who plays golf with Facher. From the outset, Jan is battling the judge's tripwire impatience as the new guy intruding into this Old Boys' Club.Kathleen Quinlan heads the group of families suing for the truth (one of her sons is dead), and James Gandolfini (THE SOPRANOS would appear literally on the heels of this movie and change his career forever) is a factory worker who harbors damning secrets about the dumping of waste chemicals. In his words - presaging the credo of what would become his most enduring character - "I ain't a rat!" Jan tell us: "Odds of a plaintiff's lawyer winning in civil court are two to one against. Your odds of surviving a game of Russian Roulette are better than winning a case at trial. So why does anyone do it? They don't. They settle. …only fools with something to prove end up ensnared in it. And when I say 'prove' I don't mean about the case, I mean about themselves." In most movies, an eleventh hour revelation drives the Good Guys towards home plate, victory, and that annoying orchestra swell, but in A CIVIL ACTION, even as Jan uncovers damning evidence that would enable him to appeal the case, with an elusive eleventh hour witness, there is no money left for "justice" to be served. And "the law" - ironically - stands in the way: the long standing principle of res judicata, "that a matter once decided in a court of law remains decided - even if that decision flew in the face of reality." Co-written and directed by Steven Zaillian, co-produced by Robert Redford (always into "sensible" films with something to say), A CIVIL ACTION is a success as a movie precisely because it is such a major downer. It conveys an infuriating claustrophobia, that maddening feeling that we can't, in fact, fight City Hall, no matter what Greg Brady says.Schlichtmann becomes a shell of a man, obsessed with trying to do the right thing, sitting in his bare office with no desk, phones and electricity cut off and no future prospects. And it's raining outside.A late scene shows young punks throwing firecrackers across a river on the contaminated land; one of the firecrackers lands in the river and the whole river catches alight.Movie ends with the Environmental Protection Agency getting involved - one giant institution against another; a clash of the Titans, if you will. In Greek mythology, only a Titan could destroy another Titan; and in the modern obfuscating world of blind justice - does anyone see the irony in that phrase? - it is still impossible for an individual to destroy a Titan, even with the best intentions and the Truth on their side.Harr's book ends on a somber, pessimistic note, but the movie was made after the book, with more current information. Closing text informs us that the two offending corps, Grace and Beatrice Foods, were indicted by the EPA and paid 69 million dollars in cleanup costs. Jan is now representing 60 families in New Jersey in another contaminated water case.Is this guy a sucker for punishment or what?

namashi_1 Based on the book of the same name by Jonathan Harr, 'A Civil Action', directed neatly by Steven Zaillian, is A Gripping Film, that brings a true-story on celluloid, efficiently. The Writing, at most places, is sharp, and the performances by Travolta and Duvall, are hugely effective.'A Civil Action' is based on a true story of a court case about environmental pollution that took place in Woburn, Massachusetts in the 1970s. It was a tragic time, for the people who lost their loved ones. And the cinematic version pays respect to them. The Court Scenes are sharply written and executed, while some scenes, especially towards the end, lose pace.Steven Zaillian's Adpated Screenplay is mostly intense and gripping. His direction, is neat as well. Cinematography by Conrad L. Hall is picture perfect. Editing is fair.Performance-Wise: Travolta and Duvall, both own the film. Travolta is flawless as the righteous attorney, while Duvall is powerful and menacing. Among other performances, William H. Macy and James Gandolfini stand on their own with note-worthy performances. John Lithgow is perfect, as ever.On the whole, A Must See Film!