A Civil Action review

In courtroom-speak, 'nolle prosequi' means 'to be unwilling to pursue'. In film terms, this worthy warning might be translated: beware the legal thriller, 'based on' and 'true story.'

That this rather powerful picture manages to avoid most of the usual pitfalls (actor grandstanding, gross plot liberties, emotional manipulation), is testament to restrained but towering performances from the two leads, and the inescapable poignancy of the facts.

John Travolta is Jan Schlichtmann, a personal injury attorney whose company earns a very nice crust exacting corporate compensation for former employees left injured or disadvantaged in some way.

But then Schlichtmann is approached by families whose children have died of leukaemia, caused - they believe - by a water supply contaminated by two major American foodstuffs companies, and he's drawn into what proves to be an exhausting and money-draining battle to establish the truth.

And as Schlichtmann's normal motivations of money and ego (this case being high profile and the accused having very 'deep pockets') are overtaken by a conviction to expose the truth and a stubborn refusal to settle out of court, his partners (among them William H Macy and Tony Shalhoub) become nervous.

Those nerves aren't helped when the formidable presence of wily trial litigator Jerome Facher (Robert Duvall) is assigned to defend Beatrice Foods, and a mighty - and colossally expensive - struggle ensues.

It's a struggle that's fascinating, affecting and about as near to 'the God's honest' as it's possible to get from Hollywood.

Writer-director Steven Zaillian has taken the details direct from a book by Jonathan Harr, and Harr was invited by Schlichtmann from day one to document what he hoped would be a landmark moment in legal history.

Which does separate this from the average courtroom drama - indeed, much of the action occurs outside the oak-panelled walls - but if legal chicanery isn't your thing, this long, talky film (expertly performed and driven though it is) will probably not be cause for conversion.

However, with Kathleen Quinlan, John Lithgow and even Stephen Fry also featuring, the cast list here is strong all the way down, and at the top, Travolta butting heads with Duvall is worth watching any day of the week.

Both superb in their own right - Travolta throwing caution and financial considerations to the wind in rabid pursuit of the truth; Duvall practising the honed legal tactics he also lectures in - their electric confrontation while awaiting one particular verdict must rank with the great moments in cinema, and should be reason enough for interested parties to buy that ticket.