Class Action (1990)
Director: Michael Apted
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Maggie Ward (Mastrantonio) may have followed her father into the law, but she embodies the kind of values he despises and is embittered about her long-suffering mother. Daddy (the ever reliable Hackman) is a flamboyant civil liberties lawyer who has spent his life championing the underdog and pursuing extra-marital affairs. When a class action lawsuit comes along, involving injured drivers and a car manufacturer accused of producing dangerous vehicles, guess which lawyers decide to take up opposing sides? Apted builds up a combative atmosphere both in and out of the courtroom, but the studied contrivances which work so well before the judge appear more strained during the emotional confrontations, which ambitiously attempt to redress all wrongs. Worthy stuff, most effective during the courtroom theatricals.Author: CM
Cast & crew
Director: Michael Apted
Producer: Ted Field, Scott Kroopf, Robert W Cort
Cast: Gene Hackman, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Colin Friels, Joanna Merlin, Larry Fishburne, Donald Moffat, Jan Rubes, Matt Clark, Fred Dalton Thompson full cast
Duration: 109 mins
Most popular on this site
Features
To the letter
Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.
Mind over matter
David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.
Fool's gold
Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.
We are the championed
Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."
A history of violence
Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.
True romantic
James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.
Playing in the dark
MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.
Junk bonds
Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.



What do you think?
Post your review now