A Civil Action (1998) Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4WOo8IJzVg

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

When you know something is wrong, do something about it.


PLOT


Based on the titular Jonathan Harr novel, 1998’s A Civil Action takes place in 80s Boston and follows attorney Jan Schlictmann who runs a small firm of personal injury lawyers. One day, he is called by Woburn resident Anne Anderson to take legal action of the contaminated water supply in the town that is killing local children like her son. Jan first deems it unprofitable until realizing this environmental issue of local tanneries could be responsible for several leukemia cases. He goes against two tannery corporations that he believes could earn him millions and boost his firm’s reputation, ‘Beatrice Foods’ and ‘WR Grace and Company’. He would defend families that demand an apology and a clean up of the contaminated areas. The class action lawsuit would be difficult because opposing lawyers Jerry Facher & William Cheeseman are not easy to intimidate. As Jan hires geologists to find proof of where the effluents are getting dumped, he interviews Al Love who exposes there was illegal dumping of TriChloroEthylene barrels, but doesn’t say where as he knows Cheeseman could destroy that evidence. John Riley (Dan Hedaya) is questioned as well for owning a tannery in the area, but he claims to never use said barrels. The case does take a bigger toll than expected when the testing for effluents continuously comes out of his office’s pocket before the trial can even begin. Al Love eventually comes clean where the barrels are getting dumped and fellow employee Bobby Pasquerila (Paul Ben Victor) backs his claim. Facher does make an offer to cover Jan’s expenses, but he refuses knowing 1.5 percent chance of cases like this go to trial, making it more about the money. Pressure gets so high that Jan’s partner James Gordon puts on the line all deeds to his partner’s houses to pay for the case. When the trial starts, Riley then claims he had no idea on how polluted his estate became. Judge Skinner (John Lithgow) makes a key ruling where he disallows victims of Woburn to testify on the stand due to not enough proof of poisonous chemicals reaching the wells. Eventually, the trial goes in favor of Beatrice Foods and since Jan turned down $20million from Facher, he and his team split 8 with the plaintiffs that barely cover expenses trying the case. Anne and the other families remain disappointed as they refuse to identify compensation as an apology for losing their children. Jan would part ways with his firm due to these financial troubles and would now live in a smaller apartment running a small time law practice. Luckily, he finds more key witnesses, the ones who’ve cleaned up the messes and gets to pursue the case further. The film would end in an epilogue: As a result of Jan continuing to pursue the case, Riley’s tannery was torn down after Skinner discovered he concealed evidence at the trial. WR Grace got indicted and it’s Woburn would close in 1990 the same year as Riley’s tannery. WR Grace and Beatrice Foods paid a share of $69.4 million in cleanup costs and Jan eventually settled his debts after a few years, practicing environment law and representing 60 total families.


THOUGHTS


Courtroom dramas are the kind of subgenre I can get a kick out of due to how unpredictable the layout. Whether it is of civil rights, personal justice or a corporation matter, it leaves me seated because they’re no guarantee on how it’s gonna go. I had no expectations on this one at all because I had not known of it for a while going into it and once it was over, I was quite impressed. Writer/director Steve Zailian makes something that had a different atmosphere of being gripping because due to this also being a biopic of the Anderson v Cryovac case. Much what would be discussed in 2019’s Dark Waters that I actually saw in advance, this is quite surprising knowing corporations are not as responsible/accountable when it comes to deaths they unintentionally cause but protect from losing wealth. This feels like the worst kind of greed because it’s so visible you can’t believe it has happened more than once. The fact this is an example of justice prevailing does prove sacrifice is part of the journey otherwise you’re no different than those you’re trying to confront. John Travolta is a great lead as Jan Schlichtmann because he’s someone who has to break from the business side of being a lawyer and genuinely care for his clientele for the first time in order to have a victory that matters. The fact he didn’t care how broke he got and ignored how it affected his partners does his growth was there at a cost still. William H Macy showed Kevin as the only one visibly annoyed of the sacrifice he wasn’t prepared for, whereas Tony Shalhoub & Željko Ivanek portrayed fellow partners Kevin Conway & Bill Crowley as guys who had their own loyalty, but were most hesitant in expressing their shared annoyance. I don’t blame them for feeling such since they don’t want to risk livelihood for people that are strangers they don’t intend to keep in touch, but Jan stopped thinking like that because that was his way to be better than his opposing side. When seeing Kathleen Quinnan play a grief stricken woman of Anne Anderson who wants true consequences to those responsible for her loss and James Gandolfini play Al Love as a man who overcomes his fear for the greater good, they are who inspires Jan to stay on the right track. And the way he remained speechless when asked where it all went before the credits rolled proved he was proud of the final result. As for the opposing side, Robert Duvall and Bruce Norris successfully got under my skin as Father & Cheeseman because they got their own pride on the line. They’re so profound whether together or on their own because they know how to be strategic with intimidation in order to continue a torturous course of greed. Luckily, their greed was stopped by the idealism Jan represented. In short, A Civil Action is a classic courtroom drama that deserves more attention for opening a medium on why it matters to do the right thing. If that’s your preference of a movie, check this out when you can.