Taglines: Justice has its price.
A Civil Action movie storyline. Jan Schlichtmann, a tenacious lawyer, is addressed by a group of families. When investigating the seemingly non-profiting case, he finds it to be a major environmental issue that has a lot of impact potential. A leather production company could be responsible for several deadly cases of leukemia, but also is the main employer for the area.
Schlichtmann and his three colleagues set out to have the company forced to decontaminate the affected areas, and of course to sue for a major sum of compensation. But the lawyers of the leather company’s mother company are not easy to get to, and soon Schlichtmann and his friends find themselves in a battle of mere survival.
A Civil Action is a 1998 American drama film directed by Steven Zaillian and starring John Travolta (as plaintiff’s attorney Jan Schlichtmann) and Robert Duvall, and that is based on the book of the same name by Jonathan Harr. Both the book and the film are based on a true story of a court case about environmental pollution that took place in Woburn, Massachusetts, in the 1980s.
The film and court case revolve around the issue of trichloroethylene, an industrial solvent, and its contamination of a local aquifer. A lawsuit was filed over industrial operations that appeared to have caused fatal cases of leukemia and cancer, as well as a wide variety of other health problems, among the citizens of the town. The case involved is Anne Anderson, et al., v. Cryovac, Inc., et al.. The first reported decision in the case is at 96 F.R.D. 431 (denial of defendants’ motion to dismiss). Duvall was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance.
A Civil Action (1998)
Directed by: Steven Zaillian
Starring: John Travolta, Robert Duvall, James Gandolfini, Dan Hedaya, John Lithgow, William H. Macy, Kathleen Quinlan, Tony Shalhoub, Mary Mara, Stephen Fry
Screenplay by: Steven Zaillian
Production Design by: David Gropman
Cinematography by: Conrad L. Hall
Film Editing by: Wayne Wahrman
Costume Design by: Shay Cunliffe
Set Decoration by: Tracey A. Doyle
Music by: Danny Elfman
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some strong language.
Distributed by: Buena Vista Pictures, (North America), Paramount Pictures (International)
Release Date: December 25, 1998
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