Class Action (1991)

Wonderful character development!

Absolutely Fantastic

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

***SPOILERS*** The film "Class Action" pits San Francisco activist lawyer for the down trodden and helpless Jed Tucker Ward, Gene Hackman, against his no nonsense and bull headed daughter Maggie, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonoi, in a winner take all civil case against a giant car manufacture Argon Motors. It's Argon Motors who's 1985 model station wagons are the cause of some 130 accident one, the one which Jed takes up, had two persons killed and the driver left crippled. This father and daughter conflict in the courtroom results in Jed's wife Estella, Joanna Marlin, collapsing in the courthouse from a fatal heart attack from the stress that it caused her. Estella begged Maggie not to take the case for the car manufacture against her father. It was by Maggie taking it up that caused her mom's weak heart to stop beating.In the courtroom sparks flew with Maggie and her defense team using every dirty and underhanded tactic to win that case. Even going so far as to to humiliate the victim of the crash, who lost his both wife and infant daughter as well as legs, as well as the engineer of the "death" station wagon the retired from the business but now running a bunny farm Mr. Pavel, Jan Rubes. Parvel who's memory, in not being able to remember his telephone number or birth date,was put in question who felt the station wagon was a death trap. It was Pavel who wrote in his notes that the car was a deathtrap to anyone driving it but as the defense, by destroying them, showed the notes he wrote about it had mysteriously ended up either missing or misplaced! Just as it looked like curtains for Jed Ward's case an important witness was brought in a professional bean counter Mr. Patricola, Ken Grantham, who broke the case wide open in Jed Ward's favor.The mysterious Mr. Patricola proved what Jed Ward wasn't able to do in showing that the car was too dangerous to be driven. That as well as the reason for the destruction of Mr. Pavel's notes which brought the roof down on Argon Motors! And it was non other Maggie Ward who at first did everything to prevent her father Jed from winning the case that made that all possible! The film was obviously based on the landmark Ralph Nader book "Unsafe at any Speed" published in 1966 about the lack of car safety in the automobile industry and how it resulted in the thousands of deaths and injuries that could have so easily been avoided. In the movie like in real life it was a minor fault in the car that would have caused a few hundred dollars to correct that was not addressed that caused the car company in question, Argon Moters, to almost go bankrupt in the 100 million damage suit that was ruled, by a jury, against it!

Thanks to the recent legal decision against Toyota and memories of the ill-fated Ford Pinto, it's difficult not to think of "Class Action". Many reviewers like to think that court room dramas can always be better, but if you've ever witnessed real court proceedings then you'll discover they can be immensely boring and why film makers avoid it. What makes "Class Action" so refreshing is the context of the case, which is a bona fide problem considering numerous cars with dangerous design problems, the devious corporate view of profit over loss (including life), which gives the film an underplay of David vs. Goliath, the spicy exchanges in court, the conflict between father and daughter, which is essentially a clash of Right vs. Wrong, and of course first rate performances by the actors. There are a few predictable story lines, but that's to be expected. "Class Action" is altogether a very entertaining and insightful film.

Sometimes I'm left with the impression that viewers think all films should be award winning material, as though the goal and worth of a film can be judged by the amount of award nominations it generates and brings home. I disagree, a good film should entertain, and that is what this film does very well. Nice on location sets give the film an authentic and attractive feel. The acting is top notch. The two main overlapping stories, the father & daughter relationship and the legal battle, tie in very nicely. This is a solid film that draws the viewer in and keeps his/her attention until final scene. There are many ways to waste two hours, this film is not one of them.

Gene Hackman and Mary Elizabeth Mastroantonio are involved in a "Class Action" in this 1991 film that also stars Laurence Fishburne, Donald Moffatt, Joanna Merlin and Fred Thompson. Hackman and MEM, father and daughter, are both attorneys. "I raised you," Jed (Hackman) yells at Maggie (MEM) during one scene. "Mom raised me," she screams back. "You had a date." Maggie's resentment over her father's infidelity erupts after the death of her mother (Merlin) in a powerful scene. Although Maggie has tried to reconcile with him, she finds there is too much in the way. Maggie is in an ethical quandary when the law firm she works for wants to suppress evidence about an automobile manufacturer's malfeasance; complicating things is that her father heads the team the other side of the case.This is a very good movie that emotionally rings true, thanks to a good script and fine performances by Hackman and Mary Elizabeth. I had the pleasure of working with Mary Elizabeth when she was a Broadway actress - a lovely woman with a great talent, shown here to excellent advantage. Grieving for her mother and unable to accept her father's love, she is blindsided by her boyfriend/boss' ethics violation and has nowhere to turn. The viewer can really feel her pain. Hackman is wonderful as a shark attorney who loved his wife deeply but made some unfortunate choices and alienated his only child. He finds himself now vulnerable and confused; Hackman expresses these emotions beautifully. There is able support from the top-notch cast.Compelling and at times powerful.