what movie did john travolta play a lawyer

by Dr. Bartholome Franecki 8 min read

A Civil Action

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Was A Civil Action a true story?

A Civil Action is the true story of Schlichtmann's David and Goliath legal fight against powerful corporations accused of environmental contamination that were alleged to have resulted in high rates of leukemia in children in Woburn, Mass.

Is dark waters a remake of A Civil Action?

Todd Haynes' new film Dark Waters wades into some of the most complicated topics in public health, chemistry, and the law to dramatize the story of environmental attorney Robert Bilott and his nearly two decades of civil actions against DuPont.

What is the movie civil action about?

In this legal thriller based on a true story, John Travolta stars as Jan Schlichtmann, a tenacious personal-injury attorney whose fierce determination entangles him in a case that threatens to destroy him. The case -- which appears straight forward -- instead evolves into a labyrinthine lawsuit of vast dimensions, in the intelligent, fast-paced drama, "A Civil Action."A Civil Action / Film synopsis

What happened at the end of the civil action movie?

The EPA files charges against the tannery's owners, and a much higher settlement is eventually offered and accepted, which included an apology and cleanup. At the end, it's revealed that it took Jan several years to pay off all of his debts, and he has since taken another polluted water case.

Is Rob Bilott still suing DuPont?

Bilott is known for the lawsuits against DuPont on behalf of plaintiffs from West Virginia. Bilott has spent more than twenty years litigating hazardous dumping of the chemicals perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS)....Robert BilottSpouse(s)Sarah Barlage ​ ( m. 1996)​Children35 more rows

How much money did Rob Bilott make from DuPont settlement?

$671 million dollarsHis litigation efforts yielded more than $671 million dollars in damages for approximately 3,500 people. DuPont also settled with the EPA, agreeing to pay a mere $16.5 million fine for failure to disclose their findings about C8, a toxin that is now estimated to be present in 98 percent of the world's population.

Does Jan win the lawsuit in A Civil Action?

After a lengthy trial, the case is dismissed in favor of Beatrice, after Jan turned down an offer of $20 million from Beatrice attorney Jerry Facher during jury deliberations.

Is the movie class action based on a true story?

The movie's storyline is based on the Ford Pinto legal case - the lawsuit of Grimshaw v. Ford Motor Company (119 Cal.

Is A Civil Action a good movie?

Any movie with John Travolta, James Gandolfini, Robert Duvall, and John Lithgow in it has to be good. This was a top-notch legal drama based on a true story with Travolta (in a standout performance) as a lawyer whose firm has to do representation in an environmental case. They handle it brilliantly.

What was the settlement in A Civil Action movie?

He reads the facts, the witnesses, the court and his opposition. There is a moment at which he offers the plaintiffs a $20 million settlement, and an argument can be made, I think, that in the deepest recesses of his mind he knows it will not be necessary.

Who won the Woburn case?

Schlichtmann took the case to trial and won $4.7 million. It was thought to be the largest malpractice award in Massachusetts history. Woburn was his next case.

Who was the imperfect victim?

Who was the "imperfect victim?" A dead child. What was the attorney's name who wheeled the young man into the courtroom? When Jan Schlictmann initially meets with the people in the church, he said that the defendant must have "deep (blank)" in order to prosecute them.

Who was the attorney that turned down Jan's offer to be a lawyer?

After a lengthy trial, the case is dismissed in favor of Beatrice, after Jan turned down an offer of $20 million from Beatrice attorney Jerry Facher during jury deliberations.

What was the case in Anne Anderson v. Cryovac?

A lawsuit was filed over industrial operations that appeared to have caused fatal cases of leukemia and cancer, as well as a wide variety of other health problems, among the citizens of the city. The case involved is Anne Anderson, et al., v. Cryovac, Inc., et al..

What is John Travolta's filmography?

John Travolta filmography. The following is the filmography of American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, singer, dancer, musician and pilot John Travolta. Travolta first became well known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter (1975–1979) and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever ...

When did John Travolta start?

Travolta first became well known in the 1970s , after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter (1975–1979) and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease.

Personal Details

Appeared as Hugh Peabody in "Bye Bye Birdie" at Club Benet in Morgan, New York. See more »

Did You Know?

I don't think I'm very cool as a person. I'm just better than anyone else at acting cool. See more »

What movie did John Travolta play in?

In 1989, Travolta starred with Kirstie Alley in Look Who's Talking, which grossed $297 million, making it his most successful film since Grease. He subsequently starred in Look Who's Talking Too (1990) and Look Who's Talking Now (1993), but it was not until he played Vincent Vega in Quentin Tarantino 's hit Pulp Fiction (1994), with Samuel L. Jackson, for which he received an Academy Award nomination, that his career was revived. The movie shifted him back onto the A-list and he was inundated with offers. Notable roles following Pulp Fiction include a movie-buff loan shark in Get Shorty (1995), White Man's Burden (1995), a corrupt U.S. Air Force pilot in Broken Arrow (1996), an FBI agent and terrorist in Face/Off (1997), a desperate attorney in A Civil Action (1998), a Bill Clinton –esque presidential candidate in Primary Colors (1998), and a military investigator in The General's Daughter (1999).

Who is John Travolta?

John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor and singer. He rose to fame during the 1970s, appearing on the television sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter (1975–1979) and starring in the box office successes Carrie (1976), Saturday Night Fever (1977), Grease (1978) and Urban Cowboy (1980). His acting career declined throughout the ...

What did John Travolta do after Jett's death?

After a mistrial, Travolta dropped the charges and has credited his immediate family and Scientology with helping him to cope with Jett's death and move forward with his career. In memory of Jett, Travolta created the Jett Travolta Foundation, a nonprofit organization to help children with special needs.

What was John Travolta's career in the 1980s?

1980s downturn. Travolta in 1983. After Urban Cowboy, Travolta starred in a series of commercial and critical failures that sidelined his acting career. These included Two of a Kind (1983), a romantic comedy reuniting him with Olivia Newton-John, and Perfect (1985), co-starring Jamie Lee Curtis.

How old was John Travolta when he got his Oscar nomination?

Saturday Night Fever earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, making him, at age 24 , one of the youngest performers ever nominated for the Best Actor Oscar.

What award did John Travolta receive?

In 2014, he received the IIFA Award for Outstanding Achievement in International Cinema. In 2016, Travolta received his first Primetime Emmy Award, as a producer of the first season of the anthology series American Crime Story, subtitled The People v. O. J. Simpson.

What was John Travolta's role in Battlefield Earth?

Ron Hubbard, in which he played the villainous leading role as a leader of a group of aliens that enslaves humanity on a bleak future Earth . The film was a dream project for Travolta since the book's release in 1982, when Hubbard wrote to him to try to help make a film adaptation. The film received almost universally negative reviews and did very poorly at the box office. Travolta's performance in Battlefield Earth also earned him two Razzie Awards .

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Overview

A Civil Action is a 1998 American legal drama film written and directed by Steven Zaillian, based on the 1995 book of the same name by Jonathan Harr. Starring John Travolta, Robert Duvall, James Gandolfini, Dan Hedaya, John Lithgow, William H. Macy, Kathleen Quinlan, and Tony Shalhoub, it tells the true story of a court case about environmental pollution that took place in Woburn, Massachu…

Plot

Environmental toxicants in the city of Woburn, Massachusetts contaminate the area's water supply and become linked to a number of deaths of local children. Cocky Boston attorney Jan Schlichtmann and his small firm of personal injury lawyers are asked by Woburn resident Anne Anderson to take legal action against those responsible. After originally rejecting a seemingly unprofitable case, Jan finds a major environmental issue involving groundwater contamination th…

Cast

• John Travolta as Jan Schlichtmann
• Tony Shalhoub as Kevin Conway
• William H. Macy as James Gordon
• Željko Ivanek as Bill Crowley

Differences from the book

As with many such works, the plotline of the film has been simplified from the book, e.g. later findings by the Environmental Protection Agency and its potential consequences that might have allowed the plaintiffs another trial against Beatrice, and which did ultimately lead to a conviction of perjury against John Riley, and improper conduct for Mary Ryan, are referred to only briefly in the epilogue.

Release

Despite showing promise on its initial limited release, A Civil Action was a box office failure on wide release, earning a domestic gross of $56 million against its $75 million budget. The film was released in competition with a number of films that became hits, earning between $120 and $290 million each, including Shakespeare in Love, The Prince of Egypt, Star Trek: Insurrection, You've Got Mail, Stepmom and Patch Adams.

External links

• A Civil Action at IMDb
• A Civil Action at AllMovie
• A Civil Action at the TCM Movie Database
• A Civil Action at the American Film Institute Catalog