A Civil Action

Directed by Steven Zaillian, A Civil Action follows a personal injury attorney (John Travolta’s Jan Schlichtmann) as he risks his career (and the careers of his partners) by accepting a case involving toxic industrial pollution. It’s engaging subject matter that’s employed to deliberate yet mostly compelling effect by Zaillian, as the filmmaker, armed with his own screenplay, delivers a solid (and periodically surprising) courtroom drama that benefits from its raft of top-notch performances – with Travolta’s first-class star turn certainly matched by a stacked supporting cast that includes Tony Shalhoub, William H. Macy, James Gandolfini, and John Lithgow. (Robert Duvall, cast as Jan’s smug, cunning opponent, offers up a deliciously smarmy performance that remains an ongoing highlight within the proceedings.) And while the picture never quite becomes as electrifying or engrossing as one might’ve anticipated, A Civil Action nevertheless (and for the most part) comes off as a compulsively watchable true-life tale that’s capped off with a surprising, far-from-conventional third act.

*** out of ****