History Literature / ACivilAction

** In the film, when the lawsuit is filed, the senior partners immediately send a clerk to take the case to Jerome Farcher. The clerk finds him in a corner of the law library, eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and listening to a ball game on the radio. Farcher responds to his presence with what initially sounds like friendly advice, but turns into a dressing-down over interrupting his lunch. This establishes that Farcher is highly trusted by the firm, that he has a simple and unassuming manner, but that this masks a hard and ruthless interior.

* ObfuscatingStupidity: It's never made entirely clear whether Jerome Farcher is exaggerating his own eccentricities on purpose to make people underestimate him, but it quickly becomes clear that his slightly goofy exterior masks a brilliant and ruthless legal mind.

* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:Subverted. Jan loses the lawsuit against the two companies that had dumped toxic chemicals into the local water supply, settles the case for far less than his expenses in pursuing it, and ends up declaring bankruptcy. However, he finally finds evidence that Beatrice was responsible for the contamination of the wells and discloses it to the US Environment Protection Agency, which appeals the decision. The two companies are eventually forced to agree to spend $69.4 million to clean up the contaminated site.]]

* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:Subverted. Jan loses the lawsuit against the two companies that had dumped toxic chemicals into the local water supply, settles the case for far less than his expenses in pursuing it, and ends up declaring bankruptcy. However, he finally finds evidence that Beatrice was responsible for the contamination of the wells and discloses it to the US Environment Protection Agency, which appeals the decision. The two companies are eventually forced to agree to spend dozens of millions of dollars to clean up the contaminated site.]]

* BittersweetEnding: The end of the film. [[spoiler: Jan is completely broke and is forced to file for bankruptcy, Jan's partners dissolve their partnership, but the EPA follows up on the suit and forces the two companies to clean up the contaminated site, costing $69.4 million and he has become a better man thanks to his experience and would do all over.]]

The film is considered a box office failure. In the United States market it earned an estimated $56,709,981. Only the 38th most successful film of its year. It seems to have underperformed in other markets, failing to cover even its budget. Critically, the film faired fairly well. While it could be seen as just another DavidVersusGoliath story, it takes another path. As critic Janet Maslin put it: "The story presents both Schlichtmann and the civil court system as stubbornly complicated. And it tells a finely nuanced tale of right, wrong and the gray area in between." This is a world of "murkiness, bitter successes and frustration". Which might also be its main fault, considering the complaints about the relative lack of excitement and the DownerEnding. While Travolta's performance is considered solid here, it was Duvall who earned the most praise. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role but lost to Creator/JamesCoburn, who won for his role in ''Film/{{Affliction}}''.

* BittersweetEnding: The end of the film. [[spoiler: Jan is completely broke and is forced to file for bankruptcy, Jan's partners dissolve their partnership, but the EPA follows up on the suit and forces the two companies to clean up the contaminated site and he has become a better man thanks to his experience and would do all over.]]

The film is considered a box office failure. In the United States market it earned an estimated $56,709,981. Only the 38th most successful film of its year. It seems to have underperformed in other markets, failing to cover even its budget. Critically, the film faired fairly well. While it could be seen as just another DavidVersusGoliath story, it takes another path. As critic Janet Maslin put it: "The story presents both Schlichtmann and the civil court system as stubbornly complicated. And it tells a finely nuanced tale of right, wrong and the gray area in between." This is a world of "murkiness, bitter successes and frustration". Which might also be its main fault, considering the complaints about the relative lack of excitement and the DownerEnding. While Travolta's performance is considered solid here, it was Duvall who earned the most praise. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. He lost to Creator/JamesCoburn, who won for his role in ''Film/{{Affliction}}''.

* BittersweetEnding: The end of the film. [[spoiler: Jan is completely broke and is forced to file for bankruptcy, but the EPA forces the two companies to clean up the contaminated site and he has become a better man thanks to his experience.]]

The background for the case was a real-life water contamination in the city of Woburn, Massachusetts. [[Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]] summarizes: "During the mid to late 1970s, the local community became concerned over the high incidence of childhood leukemia and other illnesses, particularly in the Pine Street area of east Woburn. After high levels of chemical contamination were found in City of Woburn’s Wells G and H in 1979, some members of the community suspected that the unusually high incidence of leukemia, cancer, and a wide variety of other health problems were linked to the possible exposure to volatile organic chemicals in the groundwater pumped from wells G and H. In May 1982, a number of citizens whose children had developed or died from leukemia filed a civil lawsuit against two corporations, W. R. Grace and Company and Beatrice Foods. Grace's subsidiary, Cryovac, and Beatrice were suspected of contaminating the groundwater by improperly disposing of trichloroethylene (TCE), perchloroethylene (perc) and other industrial solvents at their facilities in Woburn near wells G and H."

* RichesToRags: [[spoiler: Jane goes from being a very wealthy attorney with a high standard of living that includes a big home, an expensive car and a massive closet filled with designer suits to being completely broke and living in a tiny, run-down apartment.]]

* WorthIt: [[spoiler: Despite losing the case and the devastating effect taking it had on his life, Jan's final lines are him stating that if he had to and even if he knew what would happen, he would do it all again.]]

'''Facher''': ''(waking up)'' Objection!

* ThatWasObjectionable: Combined with IronicEchoCut. Jerome Facher, who is also an [[UsefulNotes/IvyLeague Harvard]] law professor, is shown giving a lecture to his students:

* BunnyEarsLawyer: Jerome Facher is a literal one. His behaviour is, to say the least, unusual for a lawyer, to the point that he sometimes seems an old oddball. He is a huge baseball fan, to the point of playing with a ball during a conference call with a co-defendant's attorney in a serious case. He always uses an old briefcase, with a cartoon character sticker on it, which keeps breaking up and that he keeps repairing with huge amounts of duct tape, even in the courtroom during an hearing. But he is very well versed in civil procedure law and he is a skilled and experienced litigator and [[TheChessmaster a cunning strategist]], the kind of lawyer every sensible defendant would like to have on his side during a complicated lawsuit.

** In the film, when the law firm representing Beatrice Foods receives Jan's notice of claim, the senior partners instruct an intern to bring it to Jerome Facher immediately. After searching for him everywhere, the intern locates him in a remote corner of the library of the firm eating his lunch and listening to the radio report of a baseball game. At first Facher addresses the young man friendly, but the conversation quickly turns into an angry dress-down of the poor guy for having disturbed Facher during his only treasured moment in the day free from work. This scene not only establishes that Facher is a respected litigator to whom the most delicate cases are referred, but also shows that his friendly and eccentric behavior hides a ruthless bastard and, by extension, an opponent who should not be underestimated. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, this is what Jan does.]]

* ObfuscatingStupidity: If you are a lawyer representing a plaintiff and the defendant is represented by Jerome Facher, DO NOT be fooled by his dismissive behaviour and by his eccentricities.

* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:Jan loses the lawsuit against the two companies that had dumped toxic chemicals into the local water supply, settles the case for far less than his expenses in pursuing it, and ends up declaring bankruptcy.]]

* CommonNonsenseJury: [[spoiler: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] by Jan during his chat with Facher in the hallway of the Courthouse while they are waiting for the Jury's verdict. Ultimately averted. The case against Beatrice is dismissed, but it is mainly because Jan did not have the evidence to support it.]]

* ThatWasObjectionable: Combined with IronicEchoCut. One of the defense attorneys, who is also a law professor, is shown giving a lecture to his students:

** Later, during a preliminary hearing William Cheeseman tries to have the case dismissed on the basis of an old and obscure rule of law. When {{the judge}} enters the courtroom, he immediately recognizes Facher, even exchanging a couple of baseball jokes with him, and is amazed that he is involved in the motion. Facher immediately points out that the motion was not filed by him and the judge goes on to reject it, brutally criticizing Cheeseman. This shows that the judge and Facher know very well and respect each other, which will be of crucial importance later on.

* TheJudge: Walter Jay Skinner, whose management of the case was controversial. In the film, he is clearly unimpressed (and sometimes he is outright exasperated) by Jan's {{courtroom antics}}.

** At the beginning of the movie John Travolta plays Jan Schlichtmann as a huge self-centered {{jerkass}}, who cares only about himself and even goes so far to say that the only good thing about the Woburn case is the “theatrical value” of eight dead kids (that’s before discovering that the case is against two deep-pockets defendants, of course). He only [[HeelFaceTurn becomes more sympathetic]], as he becomes more involved with the suffering of the families he is representing. The real Schlichtmann was [[CrusadingLawyer much more idealistic]]: he decided to pursue a career in law only after having watched [[RichardNixon the Watergate hearings]] and having discovered through his work for the American Civil Liberties Union that the legal system could be used to defend the powerless and the weak. He even waived the chance of working for one of the best law firms of the nation because the partner interviewing him questioned his work on behalf of the minorities and the poor.

** Later, during a preliminary hearing William Cheeseman tries to have the case dismissed on the basis of an old and obscure rule of law. When {{the judge}} enters the courtroom, he immediately recognizes Facher, even exchanging a couple of baseball jokes with him, and is amazed that he is involved in the motion. Facher immediately points out that the motion was not filed by him and the judge goes on to reject it, brutally criticizing Cheeseman. This shows that the judge and Facher knows very well and respect each other, which will be of crucial importance later on.
** In the same scene Jan Schlichtmann commits many ''faux pas'': he raises to speak before it is his turn (and is immediately rebuffed by the judge), interrupts the other lawyers, needlessly argue with a judge who is clearly skeptical about his opponent's motion, etc. Finally, he thanks Facher for not having joined Cheeseman's motion, without realizing that the elder lawyer did so only because he knew that the motion was doomed from the beginning. This is the first hint that Jan is not as skilled as a litigator as he believes to be (as he is used to settle his cases out of court) and that, notwithstanding his outward display of cynicism and scorn for the bigger first-tier law firms, he longes for recognition as a serious legal practitioner.

** In the movie the Woburn case is selected by Kevin Conway (one of Jan’s associates, played by Actor/TonyShalhoub) and Jan is vehemently against accepting it, considering it a useless waste of time and money. In {{real life}}, the Woburn case was Jan’s pet project while he was trying to build his legal practice and it was the careful Conway who insisted that he let it go, [[TheCassandra correctly assessing that it would be a very difficult case to prove and it could become way more expensive than the firm could afford]].

** In the film, when the law firm representing Beatrice Foods receives Jan's notice of claim, the senior partner instructs an intern to bring it to Jerome Facher immediately. After searching for him everywhere, the intern locates him in a remote corner of the library of the firm eating his lunch and listening to the radio report of a baseball game. At first Facher addresses the young man friendly, but the conversation quickly turns into an angry dress-down of the poor guy for having disturbed Facher during his only treasured moment in the day free from work. This scene not only establishes that Facher is a respected litigator to whom the most delicate cases are referred, but also shows that his friendly and eccentric behavior hides a ruthless bastard and, by extension, an opponent who should not be underestimated. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, this is what Jan does.]]

* AmoralAttorney: Jerome Facher.

* BunnyEarsLawyer: Jerome Facher is a literal one. His behaviour is, to say the least, unusual for a lawyer. He is a huge baseball fan, to the point of playing with a ball during conference calls with a co-defendant's attorney in a serious case. He always uses an old briefcase, with

* CommonNonsenseJury: [[spoiler: Averted. The case against Beatrice is dismissed, but it is mainly because Jan did not have the evidence to support it.]]

* TheJudge: Walter Jay Skinner, whose management of the case was controversial. In the film, he is clearly unimpressed (and sometimes he is outright exasperated) by Jan's antics.

* ObfuscatingStupidity: If you are a lawyer representing a plaintiff and the defendant is represented by Jerome Facher, DO NOT be fooled by his dismissive behaviour and by its eccentricities.