Acción judicial

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.

I still find it kind of a coincidence that this was aired here on the cable the day before Fathers' Day here. Father Jedediah Ward (Gene Hackman) and daughter Maggie (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) are both lawyers and coincidentally, they are on the opposing ends of a major court case.

From the start, one can see that Maggie is very driven to be successful in the lawyers' circles given she told her boss she wanted to take on the case because she is very aware of the company the law firm she works for represents. And her colleagues then told her that her father is the plaintiff for the case. Now this drove the daughter to outwin her father in the courtroom even more.

All the estrangement actually went back to the time when Maggie realised her father is not faithful to her mother. So whenever they passed by each other, Maggie often never gave her father one look. After Mrs Ward's passing, father and daughter reunite each other for a while...but! The old issues all came back.

And when along the way in researching for the case, an obstacle appeared and it almost led Maggie into trouble. Jedediah thought his daughter is almost in trouble and they managed to clear out some things between each other. It even led to surprising events which happened on the day of the big court case.

For me who has always been interested how lawyers always go about their work, this is a nice introduction. Father-daughter relationship is also being explored here. That is why I said about the movie on cable the day before it's Fathers' Day today here.

The idea, great. the actors, terrific. The plot, solid. the outcome, OK at best. Class Action has its moments, but spends way too much time developing the father-daughter relationship. Just as you get into the dirty dealings of the law firm, the director and editors give us more forced relationship. This is worth a look, but only if on TV.

Thanks to the recent legal decision against Toyota and memories of the ill-fated Ford Pinto, it's difficult not to think of "Class Action". Many reviewers like to think that court room dramas can always be better, but if you've ever witnessed real court proceedings then you'll discover they can be immensely boring and why film makers avoid it. What makes "Class Action" so refreshing is the context of the case, which is a bona fide problem considering numerous cars with dangerous design problems, the devious corporate view of profit over loss (including life), which gives the film an underplay of David vs. Goliath, the spicy exchanges in court, the conflict between father and daughter, which is essentially a clash of Right vs. Wrong, and of course first rate performances by the actors. There are a few predictable story lines, but that's to be expected. "Class Action" is altogether a very entertaining and insightful film.

Though I shan't name specifics, back in the '90s, when Class Action was made, vehicle component malfunction affected and scared more everyday folk than the usual cases for U.S Courtroom dramas i.e Medical and Corporate cases.

So, when a lighting circuit component fails in a popular car model and causes vehicle fires, naturally a case is lodged against the manufacturers. Taking the case is a crusty, liberal lawyer, Jed, (Gene Hackman). But, to his shock and fortunately for us, in defence is Jed's estranged daughter Maggie (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), who's ambitious and ruthless. This creates a tension, in the courtroom and privately as reasons and causes for their differences are aired.

Unlike some more well known courtroom dramas, there's little shouting or violence. No one gets murdered. The case is reasonably involving and both leads are good. The outcome wasn't as full-blooded as I'd have liked and so I give six and bit stars. Quietly recommended, though, especially for lovers of the genre.