A civil movie
"A Civil Action"
Overall Rating: ***
I was expecting the worst going in to "A Civil Action." I'm usually skeptical when it comes to environmental horror stories, and the previews made it clear that was the subject. Even worse, the description on the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com)--which turned out to be completely false--made the movie sound truly horrible. I paid my $6.50 expecting to hate it, but I actually enjoyed "A Civil Action." Alright, it's not among--or even close to--the top films of all time; but it's still worth a look.
Jan Schlichtmann (John Travolta) is a calculating personal-injury lawyer. While he's on a talk radio show denying that he's an "ambulance chaser"--even though we see him hand his card to a man at the scene of a traffic accident--it's not surprising that when Anne Anderson (Kathleen Quinlan), a disgruntled client, calls the show, he writes "save me" on his note pad rather than her name. Forced to address the issue, he isn't moved by her desire for an apology for the death of her son due to contaminated water, but he pursues the case only when he learns the defendants are multi-million dollar companies.
"A Civil Action" is dominated by Travolta; he plays the central character and is in the majority of the scenes. Fortunately, he's pretty good, gradually becoming obsessed with a case he took only for the money. Indeed, most of the performers are good, though a couple truly shine. One is James Gandolfini, who plays Al Love, a man who works for the responsible (or irresponsible) chemical company, witnessed some dumping, lives in the neighborhood where the cancer cluster was, and has seen some health problems in his own family. Robert Duvall is also magnificent as Jerome Facher, a defense attorney who seems more interested in the Red Sox than the law, but who actually is a Machiavellian manipulator who knows what to offerand when.
"A Civil Action" also has many nice touches. The meeting in the Harvard Club, for instance--which is an inept attempt to impress a man who went to Cornell--works very well. Then there are the scenes that show us Schlichtmann's transformation in character--such as the scene where he visits the place where one of the plaintiff's children died and imagines the death--a scene that contrasts nicely with the scene I mentioned earlier where he gives his card to the accident victim. Perhaps best of all, throughout the film, the camera focuses on glasses of water--reminding the audience what the case is supposed to be about.
As much as the film has going for it, however, it doesn't completely work. It may be based on a true story--at least, that's what they say at the beginning--but its theme of big business doing the little guys wrong is pure cliché. The main problems stem from the film's mixed messages. There are subtle hints that the scientific evidence for the case is weak, which undermines the film as a whole: does Schlichtmann's small law firm lack the resources to find the evidence, or is it just not there? The movie also asks the big question about the justice system: does it work, or doesn't it? These questions are thrown up in the air, but never answered satisfactorily. Perhaps most frustrating is the way the ending is structured; "A Civil Action" tries to be a tragedy with a happy ending, and it doesn't work either way.
Looking back on the movie, I have a hard time trying to figure out why it was rated PG-13: there is a moderate amount of strong language; Schlichtmann throws a couple of temper tantrums--ransacking his own office, for instance; and the thematic content--which includes allusions to the deaths of children--is very strong. All totalled, I imagine that this film would be less harmful to children than the evening news, though probably less interesting as well.
As for adults, it may be worth a look. As many contradictions as the script has, the overall effect creates a new one: the film is wishy-washy in the extreme. Still, the movie isn't half bad as a courtroom drama, and my judgement is that many aspects of "A Civil Action" make it a civil effort; unlike some court cases, this film should not be dismissed.
Title: "A Civil Action"
Release date: 12/25/98 (limited) / 1/8/99 (nationwide)
MPAA rating: PG-13
Overall rating: ***
Aprox. run time: 115 min.
Director: Steven Zaillian
Writers: Steven Zaillian, Jonathan Harr (book)
Stars: John Travolta, Robert Duvall, John Lithgow (as Judge Skinner)
Original URL: http://www.geocities.com/reviewsbyjohn/CivilAct.htm
Added to blog site: 7/27/09
Overall Rating: ***
I was expecting the worst going in to "A Civil Action." I'm usually skeptical when it comes to environmental horror stories, and the previews made it clear that was the subject. Even worse, the description on the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com)--which turned out to be completely false--made the movie sound truly horrible. I paid my $6.50 expecting to hate it, but I actually enjoyed "A Civil Action." Alright, it's not among--or even close to--the top films of all time; but it's still worth a look.
Jan Schlichtmann (John Travolta) is a calculating personal-injury lawyer. While he's on a talk radio show denying that he's an "ambulance chaser"--even though we see him hand his card to a man at the scene of a traffic accident--it's not surprising that when Anne Anderson (Kathleen Quinlan), a disgruntled client, calls the show, he writes "save me" on his note pad rather than her name. Forced to address the issue, he isn't moved by her desire for an apology for the death of her son due to contaminated water, but he pursues the case only when he learns the defendants are multi-million dollar companies.
"A Civil Action" is dominated by Travolta; he plays the central character and is in the majority of the scenes. Fortunately, he's pretty good, gradually becoming obsessed with a case he took only for the money. Indeed, most of the performers are good, though a couple truly shine. One is James Gandolfini, who plays Al Love, a man who works for the responsible (or irresponsible) chemical company, witnessed some dumping, lives in the neighborhood where the cancer cluster was, and has seen some health problems in his own family. Robert Duvall is also magnificent as Jerome Facher, a defense attorney who seems more interested in the Red Sox than the law, but who actually is a Machiavellian manipulator who knows what to offerand when.
"A Civil Action" also has many nice touches. The meeting in the Harvard Club, for instance--which is an inept attempt to impress a man who went to Cornell--works very well. Then there are the scenes that show us Schlichtmann's transformation in character--such as the scene where he visits the place where one of the plaintiff's children died and imagines the death--a scene that contrasts nicely with the scene I mentioned earlier where he gives his card to the accident victim. Perhaps best of all, throughout the film, the camera focuses on glasses of water--reminding the audience what the case is supposed to be about.
As much as the film has going for it, however, it doesn't completely work. It may be based on a true story--at least, that's what they say at the beginning--but its theme of big business doing the little guys wrong is pure cliché. The main problems stem from the film's mixed messages. There are subtle hints that the scientific evidence for the case is weak, which undermines the film as a whole: does Schlichtmann's small law firm lack the resources to find the evidence, or is it just not there? The movie also asks the big question about the justice system: does it work, or doesn't it? These questions are thrown up in the air, but never answered satisfactorily. Perhaps most frustrating is the way the ending is structured; "A Civil Action" tries to be a tragedy with a happy ending, and it doesn't work either way.
Looking back on the movie, I have a hard time trying to figure out why it was rated PG-13: there is a moderate amount of strong language; Schlichtmann throws a couple of temper tantrums--ransacking his own office, for instance; and the thematic content--which includes allusions to the deaths of children--is very strong. All totalled, I imagine that this film would be less harmful to children than the evening news, though probably less interesting as well.
As for adults, it may be worth a look. As many contradictions as the script has, the overall effect creates a new one: the film is wishy-washy in the extreme. Still, the movie isn't half bad as a courtroom drama, and my judgement is that many aspects of "A Civil Action" make it a civil effort; unlike some court cases, this film should not be dismissed.
Title: "A Civil Action"
Release date: 12/25/98 (limited) / 1/8/99 (nationwide)
MPAA rating: PG-13
Overall rating: ***
Aprox. run time: 115 min.
Director: Steven Zaillian
Writers: Steven Zaillian, Jonathan Harr (book)
Stars: John Travolta, Robert Duvall, John Lithgow (as Judge Skinner)
Original URL: http://www.geocities.com/reviewsbyjohn/CivilAct.htm
Added to blog site: 7/27/09
Labels: Movie review, ReviewsbyJohn
posted by John at 1/09/1999 07:12:00 PM
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