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A Civil Action

A Civil Action

  • Status: Released
  • 25-12-1998
  • Runtime: 115 min
  • Score: 6.46
  • Vote count: 441

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.

John Travolta

Jan Schlichtmann

Robert Duvall

Jerome Facher

Tony Shalhoub

Kevin Conway

William H. Macy

James Gordon

Zeljko Ivanek

Bill Crowley

Bruce Norris

William Cheeseman

John Lithgow

Judge Walter J. Skinner

Kathleen Quinlan

Anne Anderson

Peter Jacobson

Neil Jacobs

Mary Mara

Kathy Boyer

James Gandolfini

Al Love

Stephen Fry

Pinder

Denise Dowse

Judge Constance Mullen

Dan Hedaya

John Riley

David Thornton

Richard Aufiero

Sydney Pollack

Al Eustis

Ned Eisenberg

Uncle Pete

Margot Rose

Donna Robbins

Daniel von Bargen

Mr. Granger

Caroline Carrigan

Evelyn Love

Paul Desmond

Paul Shalline

Michael P. Byrne

Tommy Barbas

Tracy Miller

Grace Worker

Paul Hewitt

Grace Worker

Clayton Landey

Grace Worker

Paul Ben-Victor

Bobby Pasqueriella

Elizabeth Burnette

Lauren Aufiero

Alan Wilder

Insurance Lawyer

Gregg Joseph Monk

Insurance Lawyer

Harout Beshlian

Insurance Lawyer

Josh Pais

Law Clerk

Haskell V. Anderson III

Courtroom #7 Clerk

Kaiulani Lee

Mrs. Granger

Howie Carr

Radio Talk Show Host

Pearline Fergerson

Court Clerk

Scott Weintraub

PI Lawyer

Robert Cicchini

PI Lawyer

Christopher Stevenson

Insurance Plaintiff

Kevin Fry-Bowers

Waiter

Brian Turk

Mover

Rikki Klieman

TV Reporter

Charlie Stavola

Detective

David Barrett

Teenager on Property

Ryan Janis

Teenager on Property

Rob McElhenney

Teenager on Property

Michael Biase

Market Clerk

Richard Calnan

Woburn Traffic Cop

Gene Wolande

Hotel Clerk

Sam Travolta

Grace Attorney

Gregg Shawzin

Reporter

Juliana Donald

Reporter

Sayda Alan

Reporter

Catherine Leahan

Reporter

Bruce Holman

Federal Marshall

John Lafayette

Geologist

Charles Levin

Geologist

Byron Jennings

Geologist

Jay Patterson

Geologist

Taylor Bernard

Trustee's Assistant

Kathy Bates

Bankruptcy Judge (uncredited)

Harry Dean Stanton

Land Watcher (uncredited)

CinemaSerf

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.