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Civil Action, A
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
Movie:
A strong performance by John Travolta is one of a great many excellent ones in "A Civil Action", based on the true story of Jan Schlictman, a big-time laywer who nearly finds himself bankrupted by defending a group of small-town citizens who are becoming violently ill due to pollution in their drinking water. The real life saga was turned into a rather long best-selling novel that spent weeks upon the best seller list and probably, still sits somewhere atop that perch.
Screenwriter Stephen Zajillian has done a really strong job taking that enormous tale and sculpting it into a highly watchable tale. He's got a win-win situation here, though: even when the film runs into areas where the dialogue and confrontations become slightly slow and excessive, he's rounded up some of the most talented actors in Hollywood and more often than not, they take this material and make it not only watchable, but very entertaining as well.
Travolta turns in a very good performance, but the film includes some additional ones that overshadow him; William H. Macy("Fargo") as Schlictman's partner; Robert Duvall, excellent as the laywer for the other side who knows how to play his cards in the courtroom; and John Lithgow, as the judge.
But what really separates this from the other legal dramas that have made their way to the screen is the sort of decent into financial and emotional oblivion that Travolta's character and his firm goes through as the film progresses. "A Civil Action" simply feels far more realistic(well, maybe because it's based on a true story) than the courtroom films we've seen in recent years. Where those films predictably came back to the courtroom scene and scene again and just when it all looks like it's going to fail, there's some sort of reveal at the last second to predictably save the day. "A Civil Action" is unpredictable, not only because of the reality of the plot, but because these are smartly written characters who enjoyably have layers underneath the surface- we're kept on edge by the humanity of these people; they are smart, but they are also human and are flawed and can make mistakes. And we've got great actors in this film to keep us involved and watching these characters mess up and get up and go on in their lives and days in court.
I found "A Civil Action" to be an entertaining film, especially well-acted and highly recommended.
VIDEO: Again, Disney has not done a flawless job on this disc. There are some imperfections and flaws here and there, but overall, the image quiality here is quite pleasing and at times very well-defined. The film uses an Autumnal palette; most of the colors are browns and greys, reds and blacks. The scenes outdoors in the fall scenery look excellent- the baren trees and forests seem to go on forever in the surrounding forests and rather than looking like a brown blur, we can see the details of the surrounding area. There's a certain sparse beauty in the sort of dull colors that are paraded in this film, a certain cold tone that is captured really strikingly on this disc. The outdoor scenes are clear and seem quite sharp, cold and clear and pleasingly bright. It's the indoor scenes that don't fare quite as well, some seemingly a little soft and a little dim. Overall though, this is a very nice presentation of the work of a famed cinematographer, Conrad L. Hall, who has filmed such pictures as "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" right up to "Civil Action" and "Without Limits". There are really no problems here with artifacts, no print problems, shimmering or pixelization. Color saturation, contrast and flesh tones are generally accurate and well presented. Again, the only rather negative comment I have is that I would have liked to have seen some of the lower-light scenes, such as some of the courtroom scenes, to have greater detail and definition. Other than that, I was pleased with Disney's work here. Again, it's not flawless, but it's the usual nice looking Disney work.
SOUND: "Civil Action" is mainly a dialogue-driven film, but there are some nice touches of atmosphere to bring a more convincing reality to the home viewing experience. Dialogue in the courtroom scenes is natural and well-integrated, with just the natural tone and echo as they would be in an older courtroom building. There are enjoyable touches of detail as well, such as sounds on the streets during the city scenes. The surrounds aren't used often in this film, but when they are, they are subtle, yet effectively used to create an environment. The Danny Elfman score sounds very good as well, sounding pure and clean, lurking above the proceedings.
MENUS: Basic film-themed menus. Very basic.
EXTRAS: The trailer and also, the little Disney "Featurette" that has popped up on a few other recent discs makes a return appearence here, with a short(very short) group of interviews and info.
A strong performance by John Travolta is one of a great many excellent ones in "A Civil Action", based on the true story of Jan Schlictman, a big-time laywer who nearly finds himself bankrupted by defending a group of small-town citizens who are becoming violently ill due to pollution in their drinking water. The real life saga was turned into a rather long best-selling novel that spent weeks upon the best seller list and probably, still sits somewhere atop that perch.
Screenwriter Stephen Zajillian has done a really strong job taking that enormous tale and sculpting it into a highly watchable tale. He's got a win-win situation here, though: even when the film runs into areas where the dialogue and confrontations become slightly slow and excessive, he's rounded up some of the most talented actors in Hollywood and more often than not, they take this material and make it not only watchable, but very entertaining as well.
Travolta turns in a very good performance, but the film includes some additional ones that overshadow him; William H. Macy("Fargo") as Schlictman's partner; Robert Duvall, excellent as the laywer for the other side who knows how to play his cards in the courtroom; and John Lithgow, as the judge.
But what really separates this from the other legal dramas that have made their way to the screen is the sort of decent into financial and emotional oblivion that Travolta's character and his firm goes through as the film progresses. "A Civil Action" simply feels far more realistic(well, maybe because it's based on a true story) than the courtroom films we've seen in recent years. Where those films predictably came back to the courtroom scene and scene again and just when it all looks like it's going to fail, there's some sort of reveal at the last second to predictably save the day. "A Civil Action" is unpredictable, not only because of the reality of the plot, but because these are smartly written characters who enjoyably have layers underneath the surface- we're kept on edge by the humanity of these people; they are smart, but they are also human and are flawed and can make mistakes. And we've got great actors in this film to keep us involved and watching these characters mess up and get up and go on in their lives and days in court.
I found "A Civil Action" to be an entertaining film, especially well-acted and highly recommended.
VIDEO: Again, Disney has not done a flawless job on this disc. There are some imperfections and flaws here and there, but overall, the image quiality here is quite pleasing and at times very well-defined. The film uses an Autumnal palette; most of the colors are browns and greys, reds and blacks. The scenes outdoors in the fall scenery look excellent- the baren trees and forests seem to go on forever in the surrounding forests and rather than looking like a brown blur, we can see the details of the surrounding area. There's a certain sparse beauty in the sort of dull colors that are paraded in this film, a certain cold tone that is captured really strikingly on this disc. The outdoor scenes are clear and seem quite sharp, cold and clear and pleasingly bright. It's the indoor scenes that don't fare quite as well, some seemingly a little soft and a little dim. Overall though, this is a very nice presentation of the work of a famed cinematographer, Conrad L. Hall, who has filmed such pictures as "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" right up to "Civil Action" and "Without Limits". There are really no problems here with artifacts, no print problems, shimmering or pixelization. Color saturation, contrast and flesh tones are generally accurate and well presented. Again, the only rather negative comment I have is that I would have liked to have seen some of the lower-light scenes, such as some of the courtroom scenes, to have greater detail and definition. Other than that, I was pleased with Disney's work here. Again, it's not flawless, but it's the usual nice looking Disney work.
SOUND: "Civil Action" is mainly a dialogue-driven film, but there are some nice touches of atmosphere to bring a more convincing reality to the home viewing experience. Dialogue in the courtroom scenes is natural and well-integrated, with just the natural tone and echo as they would be in an older courtroom building. There are enjoyable touches of detail as well, such as sounds on the streets during the city scenes. The surrounds aren't used often in this film, but when they are, they are subtle, yet effectively used to create an environment. The Danny Elfman score sounds very good as well, sounding pure and clean, lurking above the proceedings.
MENUS: Basic film-themed menus. Very basic.
EXTRAS: The trailer and also, the little Disney "Featurette" that has popped up on a few other recent discs makes a return appearence here, with a short(very short) group of interviews and info.
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