A Civil Action (1998)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

I grew up and live next door to Woburn and go to church in Woburn. The local commuter rail station in Woburn is named after Jimmy Anderson. This is a great movie about a very sad topic. I give Jan and his team a lot of credit for persuing this case.

***SPOILERS**** Despite being based on a true story the movie " A Civil Action" seems to get mired in its own screenplay that by the time it ends is when it gets its most confusing. Ambulance chasing Boston shyster Jan "Slick" Schlichtmann, John Travolta, gets himself involved in a toxic waste dumping case that over the last 30 years has cost a number of children in the small town of Woburn MA. to come down and die of deadly leukemia. At first not all that eager to take the case Jan soon, by checking out the dumping of toxins in a local river, smells big bucks and decides to file a major law suite against the small tanning company own by multi billion Beatricefoods and W.R Grace Chemical for major damages to the people of the town.Right from the start W. R Grace was willing to make an out of court settlement with Jan for a cool 20 million but not apologize publicly for it's actions that leads to a falling out among some of Jan's clients. Who then, against the strong advice of his fellow firm of lawyers, Jan goes the whole nine yards despite the obstacles he faces in going on trial. That in the end leads to a costly "victory" for him where he ends up going bankrupt together with the members of his three man law firm. It was defense lawyer Jerome Facher, Robert Duvall, who's endless and expensive holding actions in court that left Jan's law firm not only bankrupt but in debt for some 8 million dollars. The saving grace to Jan's self made financial disaster was that finally someone who worked at the tanning plant was willing to talk and thus bail him out of the mess he made for himself.*****SPOILERS**** After almost two hours of suffering through the movie a happy ending was finally on the horizon but by then nobody really seems to care not even thous involved in the law suite. You had to have a Harvard as well as Yale law degree to even grasp what the movie was all about in just how complicated it was with its endless court scenes that never seemed to go anywhere. It was good that in the end justice was done but even those who benefited from it like the major complaint in the case Anne Anderson,Kathleen Quinlan, seemed to have lost, like those of us watching, all interest in it! There's also a pre Sopranos James Gandolfini as W. R Grace employee Al, the father of 8 children, Love who among others breaks the case wide open by finally admitting that the company he works for has been responsible for polluting the countryside and poisoning the people. As for the spaced out looking Al he looked as if he himself was poisoned or on drugs in showing almost no emotion, like a Zombie, in almost all the scenes that he was in!

Jan Schlichtmann (John Travolta) is a tenacious unsentimental personal injury lawyer. Anne Anderson (Kathleen Quinlan) embarrasses him to take her case seriously on the radio. There has been 12 deaths over 15 years from leukemia and 8 of them are children in the small town of Woburn. It's an environmental case of bad water and nobody thinks it can be a profitable case. Jan is forced to go to Woburn to drop the case himself. There is a tannery on the river and Jan notices that it's owned by the massive Beatrice Foods. He and his firm Kevin Conway (Tony Shalhoub), James Gordon (William H. Macy), and Bill Crowley (Zeljko Ivanek) file the complaint against the deep pocketed conglomerate. Jerome Facher (Robert Duvall) is the esteemed defense lawyer for the bigger company. Skinner (John Lithgow) is the presiding judge. Al Love (James Gandolfini) may have witnessed some dumping at the plant. Pinder (Stephen Fry) investigates the environment for Jan. The case rests on a knife's edge as money problems mount for Jan and his partners.This is a courtroom drama with some pretty good acting. Travolta does a good job as a smart greedy lawyer. The character is not somebody that is naturally likable although he is the rooting interest. The movie has many great actors doing good supporting roles. The legal drama has the problem that neither side is really concerned about the truth. It's a mystery without a Sherlock. This is mostly a movie of he says, he says. The legal proceedings doesn't have quite that drive. It's a fine court case with 'realistic' cynical lawyers. I'm not necessarily asking for the movie to Hollywood it up. However the movie could start with a young Jan standing up to bullies in defense of somebody weaker. It would show that he had it in him all along, and it would be compelling to see the case reawaken that part of his psyche. I just think the movie sold his cynicism a little too hard. I rather have his cynicism as a hard outer shell for his soft inner real self.

The case in Woburn, Massachusetts began with one woman's suspicions. Anne Anderson discovered her son, Jimmy, had leukemia in the summer of 1966. During the time Jimmy was being treated for leukemia, Anne began to talk to people in her neighborhood. She soon heard of two other cases of childhood leukemia only a street away from her. Anne began talking with one of the mothers, Joan Zona, because her son had leukemia as well and the two women became friends. They discussed the incidences of leukemia in their neighborhood and both agreed that it was a strange coincidence, but Anne became obsessed with the idea. She discovered several other cases of leukemia and began to analyze why this was happening. Anne started worrying about the water in Woburn, which had not tasted good since two wells, called G and H, were drilled and began pumping water into eastern Woburn in 1965. Complaints began pouring in to the city of Woburn regarding the quality of the water and the rusting of pipes, thus causing wells G and H to be shut down several times. However, the wells were not shut down for good until much later. Anne expressed her worries to her family doctor, her church minister, and her husband. Anne's husband and doctor listened to her suspicions, but did not believe they had any validity.Now, after reading the book, it became apparent to me that, the book was much more interesting and intriguing.