Customer Reviews
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Read the book, Apr 24, 2023
Don't bother wasting your time with this movie, instead read the book. The book was one of the best I have ever read, the movie left me wanting. I rented the movie after reading the book and never made it all the way through. So maybe I am being unfair since I did not watch the whole movie, but honestly I couldn't, it just didn't do the story justice.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 A Great Courtroom Drama, Apr 4, 2023
This is a movie starring John Travolta, Robert Duvall, Tony Shalhoub, William H. Macy if that is not enough reason to see this movie then I don't know what is. A must see.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
The Price of Justice in A Civil Action, Oct 14, 2023
In A Civil Action John Travolta plays Jan Schlichtmann the hottest young lawyer in Boston. He is a personal claims lawyer with a successful small practice and he is one of the 10 most eligible bachelors in Boston. Jan will do anything to win a case. During the progression of the story, he narrates advice to the audience as if a he is a law professor. It is this instruction that he himself does not follow and thus leads to trouble for himself and his clients. The movie, in this way, is almost as much about the apparently unreasonable reason behind litigation then it is about the individual case it portrays.
We are introduced to the way Jan Schlichtmann operates in a dark yet amusing prologue. This shows Schlichtmann pushing one of his unfortunate clients into court, fixing his pillows, getting him a drink, and wiping his face. All while the jury tries to choke back their tears, and the defending lawyers frantically try to settle before the trial begins by writing increasingly large settlements on a pad for Schlichtmann's approval. While this is all going on Schlichtmann gives a brilliantly deadpan voiceover, explaining how much you can expect to receive for various types of injury and which types of clients are worth more in winning cases. He concludes "that whites are worth more than blacks, men more than women, the rich more than the poor and a long agonizing death over a quick one. A white male professional in his 40's, in his prime earning potential, is worth the most and a dead child is worth least of all."
Everything is going well for Jan and then a case with at least 10 dead children drops into his lap. This case is known as an "orphan" as it has landed in every prominent lawyer's office and all have passed on it prior to him. But Schlichtmann's firm takes on the case when he discovers that culprits are owned by two of America's major corporations WR Grace and Beatrice Foods. But for the families, money isn't the point, and all they want to know is what happened, and for the responsible parties to come over and apologize to them for their loss. The thing is, "corporations apologize with money," and if the corporations have deep pockets, it's a case worth taking, so money does indeed become the point in A Civil Action. From then on, we get to watch a characteristic David versus Goliath clash, which involves the lawyer with his limited team and funds and the huge corporation with unlimited resources and a very clever lawyer (Jerome Fasher) heading its case.
Schlichtmann does a couple things during the case that leads ultimately to his downfall. First, he gets personally involved. In a news broadcast, he holds up snaps of the Woburn kids who have died. He shows empathy, which is a grave disservice to the legal profession because it clouds his judgment. He says it's like a doctor recoiling at the sight of blood. That leads to his demanding of WR Grace and Beatrice Foods a multi-million dollar settlement, including money for a research foundation, to cover expenses, and to provide for the families for thirty years, which the corporations refuse, which in turn takes the case to trial. He does this without consulting his partners, which doesn't sit well. James Gordon, the accountant, points out that they need to work on other cases to provide a cash flow. Schlichtmann has sunken a million into the Woburn case, and pretty soon, they teeter on the waterfalls of bankruptcy to the point of mortgaging their homes. It's become a source of pride, which has undone many an attorney as opposed to idiot witnesses, lousy evidence, and the hanging judge put together, as Jerome Fasher (played by Robert Duvall) tells his law class.
Fasher, the attorney for Beatrice, is a statesman-like man of experience, but has a isolated yet eccentric personality. He is a knowledgeable man, and his observation on the justice system is true, but at times appalling. When Schlichtmann tells him he's searching for the truth, he tells him, "You've been around long enough to know that a courtroom's not the place to look for the truth." And he truthfully says that the case stopped being about children the moment Schlichtmann filed for action.
Robert Duvall gives an excellent performance as Jerome Facher, Beatrice's attorney, who is the complete opposite of Schlichtmann. In a scene at a fancy hotel conference room, the frugal Facher is not impressed by any of the lawyers or their arguments, but the free pen that he can take home. It's a subtly funny scene that illustrates Facher perfectly.
The film does a great job in presenting the feelings and priorities of those injured by the negligence of a corporation. Often people think that money is everything in a civil trial, but this example shows that that is not always the case. Some of the characters evolve greatly during the story, understanding what is really important and what is superficial. This film initially gives an impression of a film where a greedy lawyer grows a conscience and starts out on a quest to defend the less privileged. But, even though the subject is not new, the way in which the story is presented and the performances by John Travolta, and especially Robert Duvall, make this a decent production nevertheless.
The blurb on the jacket claims that A Civil Action is "The best legal thriller ever." I personally believe this quote does the film a major disservice, because by calling it a "thriller" it gives the audience the idea that this is going to be something standard and Hollywood, with the obligatory "Hollywood" ending, and it's not. It's based on true events and exposes our legal system bare, it shows the impartial brutality of the adversarial system, and how one mans flaws can be amplified by that system, until they consume not only him, but all those around him.
Trials and lawsuits are examples of how corrupt and rotten the legal system and some lawyers are. Is it worth having a system where the first party to come to their senses (i.e. to cut their losses and call for a settlement) is the loser? A Civil Action also shows that despite the need for compassion, it's better to have a lawyer who thinks more with the head than the heart. This film shows startling conclusions about our Justice system, and that is what A Civil Action chooses to focus on more so than the true story it tells. The film shows the price of justice and how justice is understood in the legal process. In fact, it draws a very fine dichotomy between non-legal and legal justice and shows how hard it is to get "justice" in a legal setting. Needless to say, it becomes a very expensive ordeal full of interpretations of the law and unfortunate manipulations of it. What we can gather from the story, however, is that we should be grateful for people who are willing to go to extreme lengths, at great personal cost, to define justice on their own terms and to fight for it.
6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
 How much are you worth?, Aug 16, 2023
This is one of those typical movies in which the greedy lawyer grows a conscience and starts out on a quest to defend the less privileged. But, even though the subject is not new, the way in which the story is presented and the performances by John Travolta, and especially Robert Duvall, make this a pretty good production anyhow.
Travolta plays Jan Schlichtmann, a successful lawyer that measures everything in terms of money, including the life of others. For example, the perfect victim / client for him is a white male professional in his forties, while the one that has the least worth is no other than a child! Jan is one of Boston's most eligible bachelors and is having a ball; he believes he is above everyone else and does not care about mundane events or tragedies that other people may suffer. One day though, he receives a call from a client while he is on a radio show on air, and has no other option but to follow through on the case; at least so as to look a little better in the public eye.
The case involves kids getting sick, and some dying, due to water wells contaminated with ethylene. Jan knows that since the victims are kids there is no real money in the case, so he is reluctant to take it. But when he is leaving town something catches his eye; the small tannery believed to be the culprit is owned by a huge company with various subsidiary companies, including the producer of Tropicana. From then on, we get to watch a typical David versus Goliath fight, which involves the lawyer with his limited team and funds and the huge corporation with unlimited resources and a very clever lawyer heading its case (Duvall).
The film does a great job in presenting the feelings and priorities of those injured by the negligence of a corporation. Often people think that money is everything in a civil trial, but this example shows that that is not always the case. Some of the characters evolve greatly during the story, understanding what is really important and what is superficial. For these reasons, the movie deserves an above average rating.
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
Brilliant but ultimately sad portrayal of an uncivil system, Jul 31, 2023
Sometime in the late 1960's, a hideous act of pollution took place in Woburn, Massachusetts, a small town north of Boston. Over the next fifteen years, twelve people died of leukemia. Eight of those were children. The firm of Jan Schlichtmann, Kevin Conway, James Gordon, and Bill Crowley take on the case on behalf of Anne Anderson, a woman who lost her child to cancer. For her, money isn't the point. All she wants to know is what happened, and for the responsible parties to come over and apologize to her and the other families. Thing is, corporations apologize with money, and if the corporations have deep pockets, it's a case worth taking, so money does indeed become the point in A Civil Action.
Schlichtmann uncovers the culprits, a chemical company, WR Grace and Beatrice Foods, who provide services for a tanning company owned by Riley. With that, he files a lawsuit, the legal equivalent to a declaration of war, and hires a geological team to provide scientific evidence should it come to trial.
Jan then does a couple things that leads to his downfall. One, he gets personally involved. In a news broadcast, he holds up snaps of the Woburn kids who have died. He shows empathy, which is a grave disservice to the legal profession because it clouds his judgment. He says it's like a doctor recoiling at the sight of blood. That leads to his demanding of WR Grace and Beatrice Foods a multi-million dollar settlement, including money for a research foundation, to cover expenses, and to provide for the families for thirty years, which the corporations refuse, which in turn takes the case to trial. He does this without consulting his partners, which doesn't bode well. James Gordon, the accountant, points out that they need to work on other cases to provide a cash flow. Schlichtmann has sunken a million into the Woburn case, and pretty soon, they teeter on the waterfalls of insolvency to the point of mortaging their homes. It's become a source of pride, which has undone many an attorney as opposed to idiot witnesses, lousy evidence, and the hanging judge put together, as Jerome Fasher tells his law class.
Fasher, the attorney for Beatrice, is a statesman-like man of experience, but has a detached air coupled with some eccentricities. Yet he is a clever man, and his observation on the justice system is true, at times sickening. When Schlichtmann tells him he's searching for the truth, he tells him, "You've been around long enough to know that a courtroom's not the place to look for the truth." And he accurately says that the case stopped being about children the moment Schlichtmann filed for action.
The movie is sprinkled with legal commentary from Schlichtmann, which lays out how callous, ugly, and illogical the justice system is. He begins by talking about which types of clients are worth more, i.e. are winning cases. Whites are worth more than blacks, men more than women, a long agonizing death over a quick one. A white male professional in his 40's, in his prime, is worth the most. A dead child is worth least of all. Well, Schlichtmann finds out that children are worth something after all, especially when he imagines an agonizing scene where the LaFierros were taking their son to the hospital and died en route.
While John Travolta's best known for Grease and Saturday Night Fever, A Civil Action proves he can handle serious drama and he turns in one of his best ever performances. However, the real Jan Schlichtmann came to Farmington. He's close to seven feet tall, and in terms of resemblance, could've been played by Richard Gere. As Anne Anderson, Kathleen Quinlan is the other great performer, playing a woman changed through her ordeal into someone who has a tired and sad visage. The scene where Al Love (James Gandolfini), a conscience-stricken tannery employer personally apologizes to her shows that maybe the only real meaningful apologies come from humans, not corporations.
Trials and lawsuits are examples of how corrupt and rotten the legal system and some lawyers are. Is it worth having a system where the first party to come to their senses (i.e. to cut their losses and call for a settlement) is the loser? A Civil Action also shows that despite the need for compassion, it's better to have a lawyer who thinks more with the head than the heart.
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