Class Action . Nashville Scene . 08-03-98

Class Action

DIRECTED BY: Michael Apted

REVIEWED: 08-03-98

Upon reading John Grisham's The Rainmaker and later watching Francis Ford Coppola's weak film version I found myself thinking of this crisp little courtroom drama, directed by Michael Apted in his "entertainment-with-a-socially-relevant-edge" mode. (See also: Thunderheart and Extreme Measures.) Gene Hackman stars as a legendary liberal attorney who files a suit on behalf of a group of people who were badly burned by automobiles with faulty wiring. Opposing counsel is his daughter (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), a budding corporate shill who harbors a grudge for all the times that Dad broke Mom's heart by sleeping around. Class Action is one of the rare films that combines a truly affecting family crisis with a good potboiler. In its tense courtroom scenes, where father and daughter conspire to stick it to a heartless bean counter, you'll thrill to both the medium and the message.

--Noel Murray

Other Films by Michael Apted
Extreme Measures
Nell
The World is Not Enough

Film Vault Suggested Links
Whatever
The Ice Storm
Lolita

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