Jan Schlickmann is a cynical lawyer who goes out to 'get rid of' a case, only to find out it is potentially worth millions. The case becomes his obsession, to the extent that he is willing to give up everything—including his career and his clients' goals—in order to continue the case against all odds.
Ratings
Curator score: 3.4/10
IMDb: 6.6/10
Letterboxd: 3.22/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 65%
Metacritic: 68
TMDB: 6.5/10
Director
Steven Zaillian
Production
Touchstone Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Wildwood Enterprises, Scott Rudin Productions
Cast
John Travolta, Robert Duvall, Tony Shalhoub, William H. Macy, Željko Ivanek, Bruce Norris, John Lithgow, Kathleen Quinlan, Peter Jacobson, Mary Mara, James Gandolfini, Stephen Fry, Denise Dowse, Dan Hedaya, David Thornton, Sydney Pollack, Ned Eisenberg, Margot Rose, Daniel von Bargen, Caroline Carrigan
Curator Review
Verdict
A sturdy, old-school courtroom drama that turns a real environmental lawsuit into a morally messy, character-driven procedural. It’s less about easy catharsis than the cost of pursuing justice, and that gives it real staying power.
Best for
Viewers who like legal dramas based on true events
Fans of 1990s adult dramas and star-driven procedurals
People interested in corporate wrongdoing and environmental justice
Audiences who prefer nuanced, workmanlike filmmaking over flashy courtroom theatrics
Skip if
You want a fast-paced thriller with constant twists
You need a strongly uplifting or cleanly triumphant ending
You’re bored by legal procedure, depositions, and case-building
You prefer highly stylized or emotionally heightened courtroom movies
Overview
Steven Zaillian’s film is a reminder of how effective a studio courtroom drama can be when it trusts process, performance, and moral ambiguity. Rather than turning the case into a tidy victory lap, it dwells on the grind of litigation, the compromises, and the way a righteous cause can still consume everyone involved.
Worth noting
John Travolta plays the central role with a mix of vanity, exhaustion, and genuine conviction, while Robert Duvall gives the movie its most grounded authority. The result is a film that feels less like a crowd-pleasing legal thriller and more like a sober account of how hard it is to make institutions answer for harm.
Bottom line
It can be a little dry and overlong, but that seriousness is also its strength. If you like courtroom dramas that care about systems, strategy, and the human cost of persistence, this is one of the better late-90s examples of the form.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Nakul (4★) · 139 likes
Based on the non-fiction book by Jonathan Harr, Steven Zaillian’s A CIVIL ACTION is a vastly underrated & one of the most overlooked movies of 90s. An impeccably-written, deceptively complex and largely cliché-resistant courtroom procedural drama and a powerful moral fable, it holds up better than any of those Grisham adaptations. John Travolta sinks his teeth into one of his best roles, and he and a heavy-hitting supporting cast, including the great Robert Duvall, take Zaillian's brilliant script & nuanced dialogue and… more Based on the non-fiction book by Jonathan Harr, Steven Zaillian’s A CIVIL ACTION is a vastly underrated & one of the most overlooked movies of 90s. An impeccably-written, deceptively complex and largely cliché-resistant courtroom procedural drama and a powerful moral fable, it holds up better than any of those Grisham adaptations. John Travolta sinks his teeth into one of his best roles, and he and a heavy-hitting supporting cast, including the great Robert Duvall, take Zaillian's brilliant script & nuanced dialogue and… more
Josh Lewis (3★) · 97 likes
A forgotten and expensive 90s courtroom drama by Oscar-winning screenwriter Steven Zaillian, who beat both Mann’s The Insider and Soderbergh’s Erin Brockovich to addressing a similar real-life situation of regular people suffering the legal consequences of simply resisting corporations deliberately poisoning them, in this case via an adaptation of Jonathan Harr’s best-selling exposé on the suspicious uptick of leukemia among residents of Woburn, Massachusetts due to chemicals being dumped into their drinking water. I love this specific subgenre of legal… more A forgotten and expensive 90s courtroom drama by Oscar-winning screenwriter Steven Zaillian, who beat both Mann’s The Insider and Soderbergh’s Erin Brockovich to addressing a similar real-life situation of regular people suffering the legal consequences of simply resisting corporations deliberately poisoning them, in this case via an adaptation of Jonathan Harr’s best-selling exposé on the suspicious uptick of leukemia among residents of Woburn, Massachusetts due to chemicals being dumped into their drinking water. I love this specific subgenre of legal… more
nick johnston (3★) · 71 likes
Robert Duvall pocketing hotel pens and croissants like a lawyerin’ raccoon was what I needed tonight, and this delivered.
abbigail (2.5★) · 63 likes
i cannot believe the choices to watch in my law class were this or legally blonde and we didn’t end up watching legally blonde
Jacob Knight (4★) · 61 likes
Zaillian's fascination with the law arguably began with his directorial debut re: a chess prodigy. Here he shows the same admiration for dispassionate analysis and execution, as the winner of a trial is going to be the one who refuses to let moral attachment cloud their judgement and moves. A CIVIL ACTION is a courtroom drama that discovers conflict in how both sides of a trial become weakened/strengthened as lawyers when their skill is interfered with by empathy. There are… more Zaillian's fascination with the law arguably began with his directorial debut re: a chess prodigy. Here he shows the same admiration for dispassionate analysis and execution, as the winner of a trial is going to be the one who refuses to let moral attachment cloud their judgement and moves. A CIVIL ACTION is a courtroom drama that discovers conflict in how both sides of a trial become weakened/strengthened as lawyers when their skill is interfered with by empathy. There are… more
1993 · Drama, Mystery, Thriller · 2h 34m · R · Curator 4.3/10 (284.1K ratings) · Where to watch: fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, MGM Plus
For the 90s legal-thriller atmosphere and the appeal of watching a lawyer navigate a compromised system.
Topics
courtroom drama, legal procedural, true story, corporate corruption, environmental justice, 1990s drama, moral ambiguity, investigative, adult drama