Description: Taut and emotionally powerful, Michael Apted's compelling showdown courtroom drama is driven by characters as intriguing as its predicament. The only thing Jedediah Tucker Ward and his daughter have in common is law. Equally brilliant, equally driven, t
Class Action Review Class Action is an absorbing and intelligent film with excellent performances by Gene Hackman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. The tight and intelligent dialog is convincing and there are human emotions throughout the film when required. This is one of the best courtroom dramas ever made, even though one may predict the ending.
Solid Film!!! Sometimes I'm left with the impression that viewers think all films should be award winning material, as though the goal and worth of a film can be judged by the amount of award nominations it generates and brings home. I disagree, a good film should entertain, and that is what this film does very well. Nice on location sets give the film an authentic and attractive feel. The acting is top notch. The two main overlapping stories, the father & daughter relationship and the legal battle, tie in very nicely. This is a solid film that draws the viewer in and keeps his/her attention until final scene. There are many ways to waste two hours, this film is not one of them.
A Great Movie Gene Hackman has had a wonderful career filled with hit movies. This movie is not as well known as some, but it is very good. It has morality, intrigue, and a surprising but fulfilling ending. I recommend it.
Hollywood wins again (and we get stiffed!!) Gene Hackman is Jedidiah Tucker Ward, an aging yet tireless litigant for the public good, enemy of evil corporate type and the bane of overpaid attorneys everywhere. On the other side of this gap of good and evil is Maggie Ward, Jed's headstrong daughter. Between them is a products liability lawsuit involving car lights that kill people. The premise suggests the ending - Jed will win the day, but not before his daughter has been transformed into a noble attorney. Jed will fight the good fight (which will require supreme grandstanding) while Maggie learns just how amoral her side really is.
What robs this courtroom thriller is what's missing in virtually every courtroom thriller - a case that could go either way, an actual case in controversy. Maybe because of the amount of preemptive litigation required just to produce a major motion picture, Hollywood is simply too beholden to lawyers to make a truly biting film about them. Instead of a compelling case, we have one that's ready for our verdict as soon as we've seen the suits worn by either side or their offices. The case in "Class Action" is one you can typify as "David & Goliath", which is to say that the end has been fated to be won by the little guy by a higher power. There's no way that we're going to see a case won (even by dishonest means) by Donald Moffat's hired band of Harvard-trained professional liars, and there's no way anybody in the audience is going to buy their arguments. Maggie's bosses are so transparently bad, that not only do they screw up, but even their explanations are patently evil Even so, the film stacks the deck against them by cynically attributing to them as evil what are basic facts of life for lawsuits of this kind - namely that products liability plaintiffs will make overbroad requests for discovery, and defendants respond in kind by deluging the other side with documents responsive to the request but otherwise valueless. For a thriller about high-paid lawyers, "Class Action" has all the legal acumen of high-school mock-trial, with fewer suprises.
First class film, well acted and with a very good plot. You've read the Synopsis and the Editorial Review so there's no need to tell you what it is about. Just see it. It is a superb film about father/daughter relationships, honesty, courage, morals and scruples in legal actions. Watch it, it's great.
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