A Civil Action

January 8, 1999

Jays Rating:
Actors: /
Director:

If you’re tired of lawyer movies where the good guy always wins, you may want to see A Civil Action. In this interesting and in-depth film, John Travolta plays a lawyer named Jan Schlichtmann. Several families from a small town in the northeast ask Jan to represent them in a major lawsuit against local businesses that had been dumping toxic waste into the town’s river. The river was the primary source of drinking water for the town, and several children had become seriously ill and died of illnesses such as leukemia. Jan began an investigation and found that the toxic waste was coming from a tanning factory. Jan sees dollar signs and goes after the deep pockets of the large corporation that was buying from the tanning factory. I find this hard to believe – a lawyer taking someone to court to extract a large sum of money? He begins throwing all of his cash into this huge case, along with the assets of his four partners. He thinks he can easily win the case by using sympathy to manipulate the jurors. Unfortunately, he runs into a slick defense attorney named Jerome Facher played by Robert Devall, who obstructs the testimony of the bereaved parents. This obstruction has a dramatic effect on the remainder of the trial. This drama is well written and the acting is brilliant. However, the plot was so complicated, that I wish I’d had a guide dog to follow it. Make sure you see this movie if you are a law student. I give it a B rating.

Although I am blind, I can appreciate a good movie as well as sighted individuals.
I rely more on a good story line than special effects.