A Civil Action (1998)

Directed by Steven Zaillian. Starring John Travolta, Robert Duvall, William H. Macy, Tony Shalhoub, Željko Ivanek, John Lithgow, Kathleen Quinlan, James Gandolfini, Bruce Norris, Dan Hedaya, Peter Jacobson, Mary Mara, Sydney Pollack, Stephen Fry. [PG-13]

Cynical, cocksure personal injury lawyer Travolta tackles a class action lawsuit involving environmental contamination and rediscovers his moral compass and thirst for justice, although it comes at a heavy cost for himself and his small firm. Respectable based-in-truth legal drama finds Travolta in his comfort zone (ditto director of photography Conrad L. Hall), but Duvall steals the show as an opposing attorney who isn’t easy to pin down, measured reactions and gentle eccentricities masking a wily mind. Adapted by director Zaillian from the non-fiction bestseller from Jonathan Harr, and aside from a few minor missteps (a heavy-handed bit of pathos, the awkward tone of Macy’s money woes), it’s a polished and absorbing journey to the trial’s completion…alas, the filmmakers seem uncertain about to handle the dramatic discoveries/revelations in the last twenty minutes after the case has been closed, and the film exits on a whimper. Robert Redford co-produced; Kathy Bates cameos at the end as a judge.

69/100