Class Action (1991)

Let's be realistic.

An Exercise In Nonsense

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Director Michael Apted has Made Many a Film with its Heart in the Right Place. His Films Tend to be Thoughtful and Have a Glow of an Idealistic Take of Human Nature and an Anticipation for Good to Triumph Over Evil.In This One Gene Hackman Gives Another Outstanding Performance and He Never Seems to Disappoint. Mary Elizabeth Mastionio Also Gives it Her All as Hackman's Estrange Daughter that is the Same but Opposite Her Liberal Crusading Father.Needless to Say Their Relationship Consists Mostly of Philosophical Family Conflict and Their Strained Love/Hate Confrontations.The Part Courtroom Drama is Equally Displayed with the Personal Relationships as the Self Righteous Lawyer Father and the Materialistic Daughter Lawyer are at Odds with the Legal System and Ethics. It is All Rather Compelling on Both Fronts.It is a Satisfying and Better Than Average and a Bit Different of its Type. There are Interesting Details Involving the Case and its Supporting Participants are Realistic. The Only Thing Predictable is the Outcome of the Trial and That May Be a Shortcoming, but it is the Combining of Characters and Dialog that Makes This One Highly Recommended.

Reviewing a movie 20 years following its release is a curious task, as it entails a reflection on its content not merely as film, but as a comment woven of how the movie compares against similar films, and also films of the era from which it originates. "Class Action" serves two masters - those of courtroom drama, and those of family drama. It serves neither especially well.Courtroom drama is often used as a metaphor for a broader morality play, weighing different varieties of good and evil, or merely right versus wrong. Done well, courtroom drama is capable of producing authentic conflict that forms the basis of outstanding films, such as "A Few Good Men" and "Presumed Innocent," where the core conflict reflected a measure of unease about the kind of justice the films offered, and asking the viewer to consider whether their results were right. "Class Action," however, aspires to no such heights, tossing up a legal softball in the form of a thinly-veiled fictionalization of the famed 1970's Ford "exploding Pinto" design. With the legal drama paper thin, the characters that tell the story rapidly become strawmen caricatures, and hollow becomes the family conflict between Gene Hackman's Jedediah Tucker Ward and his daughter Maggie, played by Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. Where Hackman's character is a clichéd 60's counterculture throwback, Mastrantonio's is the equally clichéd corporate attorney. The story allows for no subtleties, and the conflict is decided before the first frame is filmed.The film's middle third delves into too many tightly-shot, overwrought emotional introspections, and Mastrantonio looks at times exceedingly uncomfortable in the role of an attorney. One can't help but wonder if the cast overcompensates for what it knows is a contrived story, trying to manufacture interesting conflict where the film's end-game can, minus the details, reasonably be predicted. On its face, the drama between Mastrantonio and Hackman is marginally compelling, but so heavily directed by Michael Apted it makes one wish the characters hadn't been drawn in such a starkly one-dimensional manner so as to allow the viewer the chance to contemplate who holds the moral high ground in their personal life, and, more broadly, in their opposite-ends perspectives in the legal system. As it is, a few scenes of anger and rage, militated by the superfluous introduction of the death of Maggie's mother along the way, merely serve to insist the viewer agree with the film's predetermined conclusions. The result leaves the conflict empty, and the viewer only marginally interested.The courtroom conclusion provides for its own interesting trapdoor resolution, which won't be revealed here, and that alone does provide "Class Action" the kind of end-game pop it desperately needs. The "pop," however, isn't enough to overcome the hard characterizations that force the dramatic point, rather than allow it to form in the heart and mind of the viewer.

Gene Hackman and Mary Elizabeth Mastroantonio are involved in a "Class Action" in this 1991 film that also stars Laurence Fishburne, Donald Moffatt, Joanna Merlin and Fred Thompson. Hackman and MEM, father and daughter, are both attorneys. "I raised you," Jed (Hackman) yells at Maggie (MEM) during one scene. "Mom raised me," she screams back. "You had a date." Maggie's resentment over her father's infidelity erupts after the death of her mother (Merlin) in a powerful scene. Although Maggie has tried to reconcile with him, she finds there is too much in the way. Maggie is in an ethical quandary when the law firm she works for wants to suppress evidence about an automobile manufacturer's malfeasance; complicating things is that her father heads the team the other side of the case.This is a very good movie that emotionally rings true, thanks to a good script and fine performances by Hackman and Mary Elizabeth. I had the pleasure of working with Mary Elizabeth when she was a Broadway actress - a lovely woman with a great talent, shown here to excellent advantage. Grieving for her mother and unable to accept her father's love, she is blindsided by her boyfriend/boss' ethics violation and has nowhere to turn. The viewer can really feel her pain. Hackman is wonderful as a shark attorney who loved his wife deeply but made some unfortunate choices and alienated his only child. He finds himself now vulnerable and confused; Hackman expresses these emotions beautifully. There is able support from the top-notch cast.Compelling and at times powerful.

Another court room drama - well, in a manner of speaking yes. "Class Action" is more of a family drama that makes use of the court room as an arena where attorney Jedediah Tucker Ward and his daughter Maggie Ward clash.The movie shows flashes of riveting brilliance, but it is mostly inconsistent and ultimately the story is predictable. Direction from veteran Michael Apted is pedestrian, Colin Friels in a supporting role is uninspired and Gene Hackman is well below par. The rest of the cast, which included Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Laurence Fishburne, are there for the ride.Friday, April 26, 1991 - Hoyts Midcity Melbourne