Rating: 
Summary: READ THIS!!!
Review: DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME WATCHING THIS FILM, THIS COULDN'T BE MORE OF A CLEARER CASE OF THE BOOK BEING MUCH BETTER THAN THE FILM, THIS IS COMING FROM A PERSON WHO READS BOOKS FOR PLEASURE ONCE IN A BLUE MOON, I'M TELLING YOU'D BE BETTER OFF READING THE BOOK, THE EVENTS ALL HAPPEND AND THE STORY IS TOLD BETTER.THOUGH I UNDERSTAND THE BUSINESS SIDE OF IT, ITS A SHAME THEY PUT THE MOVIE PUBLICITY PICTURE ON THE COVER OF THE BOOK, ITS LIKE A LOUSY ATHLETE BEING VOTED ON THE ALL-STAR TEAM JUST BECAUSE ALL THE TEAMS HAVE TO BE REPRESENTED. THATS ALL I GOTTA SAY!
Rating: 
Summary: Johnny T Meets Mr. D......For Great Courtroom Drama
Review: This review refers to the DVD widescreen edition(Paramount) of "A Civil Action".... A personal injury lawyer takes on the big guns from big business in this fascinating legal drama. Based on a true story, John Travolta plays Jan Schlichtmann, who knows how to get his injured clients the big bucks, as well as a big cut for himself. It's all about the money..that is until he takes on a case where the stakes are high and there is no settlement in sight. A town is overidden with illness. From cancer to miscarriages the percentage of sick and dieing people is staggering. Is it mere coincidence, or is there something in the water that is making everyone sick? The townspeople only want an apology and to have the pollution cleaned up. They ask Schlichtmann's firm of lawyers to help. But who is to blame? For a really good apology, it will have to be someone with deep pockets! After a little nosing around, it is discovered that the culprits do have deep pockets. There are two multi-million dollar corporations involved and the firm decides to take them on.They put everything on the line as this case becomes more personal to them, and may lose it all in the end. An excellent ensemble cast includes Robert Duvall, Kathleen Quinlan,William H Macy, Tony Shalhoub, James Gandolfini, Dan Hedaya and John Lithgow. Although billed as a thriller, I would consider it more of high drama in the courtroom. It is though, a gripping and moving account of the events, one that I can watch repeated viewings of without tiring of it. Travolta turns in a superb performance as he becomes immersed in fighting for the rights of his clients. The DVD has a perfect picture in widescreen, and the sound was very good as well in Dolby Dig 5.1(I did not notice any of the humming noises that the editorial rating spoke of). The music, dialouge and all surrounding sounds were crisp and clear. It may be viewed in French and has a production featurette. If you like "Erin Brockavitch",or captivating courtroom dramas, this one is right up your alley. Will Justice prevail? Find out as John Travolta and Robert Duvall meet before the judge... and enjoy.....Laurie
Rating: 
Summary: A Very Good Drama Film , But!?
Review: A really great story supposely based on true story gripping in it's tale of greedy & lies behind a secret that could destroy a town & company along with it . john travolta does an excellent job as the lawyer seeking the truth behind the lies but it may cost him all he has . The beef i have with this film though is that it should have got an R - rating for the lauagage in it shame on the rating people for letting it slide by . it has the f word three times it . i personally think that it could have done without it , but hey that's just me, besides that it's a great flick . if they ever do an edited of this film just take the lauguage out leave content in thank you. if you still would like to see this picture parents may want to screen it first there nothing that would offend you, But the profanity. the whole cast does great job. Highly Recommended still, I still think it should've got an R- Rating.
Rating:
Summary: Acceptable loss
Review: This book focuses on a narrow slice of the history of the problem in Woburn. The introduction of this book also destroyed lives of which the general public is unfamiliar. One such life is Ken Grant, a former Grace employee charged with protecting the general public in the aftermath of Grace's controversial environmental history. Grant worked as a safety & environmental professional who had worked for a couple of divisions of Grace. Grant was an active volunteer in many charities in Massachusetts and grew up as anunwanted youngster in state child care. As a young child Grant was crippled,abandoned and abused. Grant lived in Woburn a number of years and in most all the neighborhoods where the earliest cases of leukemia arose, was treated at the same hospitals as those children and also appeared in court. When this book came out, his medical records suddenly became unavailable, he was rousted from Grace and unable to get good references from Grace despite years of solid service. A long strong of strange events unfolded in which he began to research his hidden past and he was eventually driven into long term unemployment,bankruptcy and homelessness because no one would hire him in Massachusetts. All of this unfolded in the face of the fact that Grant was too young when the leukemia epidemic arose to know what was going on and was shuffled around so often as to keep his equilibrium off balance.As a child Grant was hospitalized long term and shuffled about.As an adult Grant was prevented from finding viable career stability. Amongst all this, no one involved with the book or movie spoke with him.
Rating:
Summary: Accurate Portrayal of Carrion Jackal Shysters
Review: This is an extremely entertaining film, well worth seeing. Among other things, it features an exchange wherein Jerome Facher (Robert Duvall) said to Jan Schlichtmann (John Travolta) that lawsuits are the means by which lawyers "make money." Lawyers definitely do not "make" money. "Making" money means bringing into being something of value that people genuinely want. It does not mean being a jackal to misfortune and/or promulgating a bunch of costly legal rigamarole. Some lawyers do help protect the money that truly productive people have made, but the overwhelming majority of shysters are out to simply GET (grab, loot, cozen, swindle) as much of that money as they can, via any conceivable means by which they can skim it from the pot. That is certainly the sort of lawyer we saw in this terrific film. And to top it off, you get to hear Talking Heads' "Take Me To The River" at the end of it. GREAT song!
Rating:
Summary: PANIC IN BOSTON
Review: You know the old saying that courtroom movies are supposed to be boring right.Well forget that and enjoy this one which deals with a story that was worth telling.The story ressembles ERIN BROKOVICH in many aspects:it is about humans and the way a irresponsable corporation can cause deaths just because the job wasn't done right.ROBERT DUVALL in a supporting role steals the show,but JOHN TRAVOLTA is also well cast.You'll laugh when you'll see him get two speed contaventions in a row.You'll also understand while viewing this,why justice is a game that can get as far as morgatging your house as a guarantee for handling the debts of a trial.I'd rather see ten films like this rather than one mindless science-fiction techno action bore ,complete with heavy-metal music.
Rating:
Summary: A Great film about law
Review: A Civil Action is a great look at the judicial system and how one man defied the odds to get justice for the common man. Even though this film was a box office flop it should've been nominated for Best Picture instead of the ... so called comedy Life Is Beautiful
Rating: 
Summary: Travolta is a good actor
Review: A Civil Action: Water. It's a basic fact we need it to survive. The human body can go longer without food than it can water. But what do you do when the water you need to survive may be killing your children? A small town in the North Eastern part of the United States faced this very problem in the 1970s. John Travolta plays Lawyer Jan Schlictmann in this movie based off a true story. Jan is the hottest young lawyer in Boston. He is a personal claims lawyer (some would call him an ambulance chaser of the highest degree) with a thriving small practice. He is one of the 10 most eligible bachelors in Boston. Jan will do anything to win a case. He has his own personal equation as to which person will bring in the most money from a trial and thus fill his pockets the deepest. The client he desperately wants to avoid is a dead child as they are worth the least in a jury verdict. Everything is going well for Jan and then a case with at least 10 dead children drops into his lap. This case is known as an "orphan" as it has landed in every prominent lawyer's office and all have passed on it prior to him. Jan meets with the families to give them a personal "No thank you." While there he finds of their suspicions as to chemicals that have been dumped into the ground and poisoned the water supply. What interests Jan the most is the parent companies behind the dumping. Suddenly a no interest case becomes one which could net him millions. The rest of the movie deals with Jan's obsessive involvement with this case. How it raises him to an almost unheard of prominence and dumps him into the lowest levels he has ever been. John Travolta does a good job in this role. He can play the ultimate of arrogance and also the most wounded of individuals as he grows to learn more about what life is truly about. William H. Macy is Jan's financial affairs person who is desperately trying to keep the firm afloat as Jan's obsession causes them to spend more and more. John Lithgow is fine as the Judge. Robert Duvall is great as the opposing lawyer who gives Jan a lesson in legal theatrics. The movie is well done but a little slow at times. Definitely would recommend it as the performances by all move this one.
Rating:
Summary: Over-Hyped and Downright Boring!
Review: This film was really too over-rated. They said it was the best political thriller of all time? No way! Its too drawn out, the acting is ok, but that was thanks to John Travolta (who wasnt all that good himself), and well William H Macy isnt any good. James Gandolfini is ok, but hes only in 15 minutes, (and thats pushing it). The film is about this law firm, who is headed by John Travolta (Pulp Fiction, Grease). His firm is rich, and only worry about themselves, until he finds this woman who is needing help. Supposedly her son, along with seven other children have died from leukemia. They suspect its the drinking water. As John Travolta struggles to find out what happened, even if it means he will loose his reputation, career, and his home. This film has a really good cast with John Travolta, Robert Duvall (The Godfather, The Godfather Part II), William H Macy (Magnolia, Air Force One), and James Gandolfini (The Sopranos, Get Shorty). But that dont always make for a good movie. This film is just not my cup of tea. If you want to see something of this nature check out The Insider (Russell Crowe, Al Pacino) or Erin Brokovich (Julia Roberts). • Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
• Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen
• Theatrical trailer(s)
• Production featurette
• Widescreen (2:35:1)
Rating:
Summary: Perfect Man For The Job
Review: Based on Jonathon Harr's best-selling book, A Civil Action is about a large company knowingly contaminating drinking water. After the citizens of the town convince John Travolta a big-time undefeated attorney to represent them several more victims of irrational numbers of lekukimia die Travolta risks it all to put and end to the contaminating.
| 
