Thursday, March 28, 1991
Class Action takes the
courtroom battle home
Strained relationship provides emotional edge
Jon Flick
The Collegian
The setting is a courtroom
completely enclosed in oak,
which provides for warmth.
Don't get too comfortable, a
battle is taking place between
lawyers.
The plaintiff is requesting a
list of names and addresses for
employees of Argo Motors, an
automaker accused of producing
a defective car, the Meridian.
The defense declares this
list should not be given, and
tries to prove that it is
irrelevant to the impending
case.
Experience triumphs over
youth, however, as the
plaintiff handles the courtroom
with ease, and wins the list.
Under ordinary
circumstances, this would
appear normal. But suppose
the plaintiff and defendant,
respectively, are father and
daughter?
Class Action bases itself
upon this father-daughter
conflict. I liked the film a lot,
because it's not just a good
courtroom drama, but also a
classic David and Goliath
confrontation.
Gene Hackman is the
"David", a no-nonsense, cocky
lawyer in a small firm. He
portrays a man named Mr.
Ward with compassion for
victims, and he works for them
by any means he can.
"Goliath" is represented by
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
(The Abyss), who plays
Maggie, an attorney in a huge
law firm that handles cases for
the upper echelon in society.
She is trained to think
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primarily about the firm's
bottom line, not the people
she represents. She is learned
in the ways of legal
manipulation, and uses this
power in her quest for a
partnership in the firm.
Here's the scenario. Argo
Motors produced a car years
ago which explodes in certain
collisions. A man who was
injured (and whose family was
killed) in one of those
collisions brings his problem
to Mr. Ward, who files a class
action lawsuit against Argo.
Maggie also wants the case
Review
in order to give herself a
chance at the partnership, so
her mentors concede and give
her the case
As if it weren't enough that
she and her father are going at
it in the courtroom, they have
deep-rooted conflict in their
relationship as well.
Mr. Ward was a "save the
world" flower child in the 60's,
so he wasn't there for his
daughter much of the time. She
became attached to her mother,
and rarely spoke a kind word
to her father.
Now Mr. Ward wants
reconciliation with his
daughter, but she isn't willing
to accept. She shows how
badly she wants to "beat him"
in her earnest to win her case.
The death of her mother
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The Collegian
forces Maggie to reconsider her
relationship with her father.
Many tense moments manifest
themselves in this critical
point in the film.
The rest of the film centers
around some new evidence that
could help Mr. Ward's side of
the case. Maggie has
possession of it, and she must
face a moral dilemma: should
she give the evidence to her
father and lose her partnership,
or disclose it and violate the
ethics of the legal profession
in her ascent?
Direction is handled nicely
by Michael Apted (Gorillas in
the Mist). He provides a sense
of drama throughout the film,
but retains the characters'
human qualities as well. This
is very important in buffering
Mastrantonio's character,
because of her inhumane
courtroom tactics.
The only goal the film fails
to accomplish is the display of
conflict between Hackman's
and Mastrantonio's characters.
The script would indicate
that a sense of tension between
Maggie and her father should
be sensed right from the
beginning of the movie. What
is portrayed is a mere rivalry
between them, with not nearly
as much conflict as there
should be.
Viewers might not get an
indication of how much deep
rooted hatred Maggie feels for
her father until the
"explosion" shortly after the
death of her mother.
All in all, this is a very
good film. The moral dilemma
was well executed, the actors
performed marvelously, and I
felt I got my money's worth.
ALUMNI CAREER
DAYS
MARCH 14, 1991
School Of Business
MARCH 21,1991
Humanities & Social Sciences
MARCH 28, 1991
Science Engineering & Technology
Come to a special panel discussion
with alumni from your major.
Find out about the world of work,
how you will fit in, job and
career advice, and much more!
EVERYBODY WELCOME!
ALL SESSIONS: REED 116
Co-sponsored by the Career Development Office and
The Penn State Behrend Alumni Society
Up close with...
Name: Ted Hacker
Birthdate: August 26, 1967
Birthplace: Perkasie, PA.
Current job position:
Association.
Very first job: Painting houses with my Dad
Secret vice: Purple pens (pilot medium point)
Three things that can always be found in your
refrigerator: Miller Genuine Draft, near empty milk carton,
pizza box.
Movie you could see again any time: FX
Book you could read again any time: "On a Pale Horse"
by Piers Anthony
Whom you would most like to have dinner with: [fi lly
Joel
Your ultimate dream vacation: A month on a tropical
What actor would you have portray yourself in a
movie based on your life?: Dan Aykroyd
Behrend's best kept secret: The accomplishments students
have made in and outside of the classroom through their
involvement in Student Organizations.
Accomplishment you are proudest:
Government and other organizations.
People may be surprised to know... what I learned as a Boy
Scout.
Things you could do without:
and shoulder pads.
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