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A Civil Action

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6.5/10 • 455

1998-12-251h 55m

Drama

Justice has its price.

Jan Schlickmann is a cynical lawyer who goes out to 'get rid of' a case, only to find out it is potentially worth millions. The case becomes his obsession, to the extent that he is willing to give up everything—including his career and his clients' goals—in order to continue the case against all odds.

Directors
Steven Zaillian
Editors
Wayne Wahrman

Top Billed Cast

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  1. John Travolta

    John Travolta

    Jan Schlichtmann

  2. Robert Duvall

    Robert Duvall

    Jerome Facher

  3. Tony Shalhoub

    Tony Shalhoub

    Kevin Conway

  4. William H. Macy

    William H. Macy

    James Gordon

  5. Zeljko Ivanek

    Zeljko Ivanek

    Bill Crowley

  6. Bruce Norris

    Bruce Norris

    William Cheeseman

  7. John Lithgow

    John Lithgow

    Judge Walter J. Skinner

  8. Kathleen Quinlan

    Kathleen Quinlan

    Anne Anderson

  9. Peter Jacobson

    Peter Jacobson

    Neil Jacobs

Reviews1

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CinemaSerf Avatar

CinemaSerf

Apr 16, 2024

6/10

Based on a true story, John Travolta portrays an ambulance chasing lawyer whose company takes 40% of any settlement they get for their clients following accidents in the workplace, or during surgery, or on the road etc. It's when he becomes aware of a clutch of leukaemia sufferers that he begins to suspect that a local tannery might be polluting the water supply with toxic chemicals. Now he is used to quick in and out judicial procedures, high profit low costs. This case is the reverse. He knows that to bring a civil suit against a large-scale entity is rife with risk and costs, but he convinces his colleagues to take it on. The opponents have hired the services of the experienced "Facher" (Robert Duvall) who knows exactly how to play the system. He is an expert at dragging things out and protracting the entire legal process until his antagonists run out of money, or maybe even the will to live. With the costs mounting and the court case showing no sign of concluding, he and his team face bankruptcy. Can they get a settlement in time? It's all a rather plodding drama with little by way of excitement to stimulate the attention. Sure, the atrocity is ghastly but the dramatisation of the scenario surrounding it is rather exemplified by a rather weak contribution from Stephen Fry as the geology guru and an over-cooked contribution from William H. Macy as his increasingly frustrated partner. Duvall does the cynical and exploitative lawyer pretty well, but he doesn't really feature enough to enliven this and at almost two hours long, it's really just a showcase for Travolta and not much of one at that. Essentially it's a watchable enough television movie that shines quite a powerful light on the injustice of the American justice system, but that's about it.

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  • A Civil Action backdrop
  • A Civil Action backdrop
  • A Civil Action backdrop
  • A Civil Action backdrop
  • A Civil Action backdrop
  • A Civil Action backdrop
  • A Civil Action backdrop
  • A Civil Action backdrop
  • A Civil Action backdrop

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
$70,000,000.00
Revenue
$56,709,981.00
Keywords
right and justiceadvancementsuccessleukemialawyerbusiness start-uplegal drama