A CIVIL ACTION (1998)

Cast

Plot

An unusually low-key legal thriller, based on a real-life case of toxic dumping, which avoids the usual cliched courtroom confrontation. John Travolta is excellent as the ambulance-chasing attorney who initially turns down the case of eight kids stricken with leukaemia by corporate contamination, but who ultimately can't resist taking on the big boys. Robert Duvall adds an interesting diversion as Travolta's court adversary who's neither corrupt nor an ogre, but simply ultra-efficient.