A CIVIL ACTION
Justice, conscience, and truth collide in a mesmerizing courtroom drama.
Should You Watch It?
A CIVIL ACTION is a gripping, morally serious courtroom drama. John Travolta plays a polished lawyer whose pursuit of justice costs him his comfortable life, while Robert Duvall gives one of the film’s best performances as his brilliant adversary. The movie asks what truth, goodness, and justice are worth when the cost becomes personal.
The content is relatively restrained for a PG-13 film. There is no sex or nudity, and the violence is mild, but the language, alcohol use, and smoking still call for parental discernment. The environmental message also favors concentrated federal power, which may trouble some Christian and conservative viewers.
If your family includes mature middle schoolers or teenagers, this is a thoughtful choice for discussion. For younger children, choose something else.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESJan Schlichtmann is a wealthy, successful personal injury lawyer whose colleagues think he can do no wrong. When he meets parents in rural New England whose children died from leukemia, possibly because of polluted local water, he sees a difficult case with little financial promise.
Then Jan discovers that local firms connected to two major corporations may be responsible. He and his colleagues file a lawsuit and face Jerome Facher, a formidable attorney determined to defend the companies.
Is It Any Good?
Four stars means this is outstanding filmmaking. Steven Zaillian’s taut script offers excellent dialogue and overcomes the predictable limits of the courtroom genre. His direction is nearly as superb as his work on Searching for Bobby Fischer.
The visual details deepen the characters: Jan loves fast cars, while Facher treasures quiet solitude. Travolta brings flashy earnestness to Jan, but Duvall is especially impressive, conveying cagey wisdom, intelligence, compassion, and controlled anger. The result is provocative, dramatic, and mesmerizing.
The Worldview
A CIVIL ACTION strongly values truth, goodness, justice, courage, and personal sacrifice. Jan gives up material possessions to pursue what he believes is right, making his journey morally uplifting even though it is tragic. The film also presents deliberate water pollution as clearly wrong and condemns corporations that place people in danger.
Its environmentalism, however, appears colored by a socialist worldview that favors a bloated federal government. The source review notes a tension here: a conservative, and possibly Christian, view may favor local control over public health while still opposing the concentrated power of huge corporations. The movie’s moral vision is strongest when it focuses on personal responsibility and justice, but its solution leans toward centralized government power.
The film’s central longing is for justice pursued at great personal cost. Scripture says God requires His people “to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Moral worldview with an environmentalist plot problem & socialist elements that in one key scene reflects a nihilism; 5 obscenities & 4 profanities; mild violence of threats, tearing apart an office in frustration & arguing; no sex; no nudity; alcohol use; smoking; and, local companies lie to cover up their pollution of local drinking water but personal injury lawyer goes after big companies because they have money, then relies on big federal government when he loses case due to his own pride & mismanagement.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
Jan pursues justice even when it costs him materially. What are you willing to sacrifice to do what is right?
Matthew 6:19–21 · Micah 6:8The film contrasts personal pride with humility. How can pride distort good intentions, and what does biblical humility look like?
Proverbs 16:18 · Philippians 2:3–4The story raises questions about corporate responsibility and government power. What responsibilities do individuals, companies, and governments have toward their neighbors?
Romans 13:1–4 · Philippians 2:4Water pollution endangers an entire community. How does Scripture call us to care for creation and protect vulnerable people?
Genesis 2:15 · Proverbs 31:8–9The Final Word
A CIVIL ACTION is superbly acted, tightly written, and morally searching. Its restrained content makes it suitable for mature teenagers and adults, though its environmental politics deserve discussion. For families ready for a serious courtroom drama, the answer is WORTH THE TRIP — AGES 13 AND UP.
