A Civil Action (1998) on Netflix
Families in Woburn, Massachusetts, blame contaminated water for their children's leukemia. Attorney Jan Schlichtmann, asked by Anne Anderson, files a class action against the tannery owners.
- Netflix3.6/5
- IMDb6.6/1032,976 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes62%
Trailer
Plot summary
Environmental toxicants reach the water supply of Woburn, Massachusetts, and children in the town develop leukemia and other health problems. Anne Anderson, a Woburn resident, asks Boston attorney Jan Schlichtmann to take legal action against those responsible. He turns the case down at first, seeing little profit in it, then finds signs of groundwater contamination and concludes that the local tanneries, owned by Beatrice Foods and W. R. Grace and Company, may be to blame. Jan brings a class action in federal court on behalf of the families, who want an apology and a cleanup of the polluted areas. He expects millions of dollars and a name for his small personal injury practice. The corporations' lawyers prove hard to intimidate, and the case grows far larger than Jan's firm can comfortably carry.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about A Civil Action (1998)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The film is based on a real lawsuit, Anne Anderson, et al., v. Cryovac, Inc., et al., filed over industrial operations that appeared to have caused fatal cases of leukemia and cancer, along with a wide variety of other health problems, among the citizens of the city.
- A Civil Action was a box office failure on wide release, earning a domestic gross of $56 million against its $75 million budget, while sharing the season with hits such as Shakespeare in Love and You've Got Mail that earned between $120 and $290 million each.
SPOILER
A closing postscript says that the EPA, building on Jan's work on the case, later brought its own enforcement action against Beatrice and Grace, forcing them to pay millions to clean up the land and the groundwater.- Kathy Bates appears in an uncredited cameo in the film's final scene, playing the judge who oversees Jan's bankruptcy hearing.
