Class Action (1991)

Gene Hackman and Elizabeth Mastantonio are good actors and the story itself is credible.A worthy piece of entertainment.

I've been a victim of medical malpractice THREE TIMES beginning 1991 then 2004, and finally TWICE in 2016. Other than the firs doctor who was completely uncaring about my side effect complaints for nearly nine months. The others simply made mistakes as we are all human and as such are fallible. HOWEVER...accidents causing harm and injury whether temporary or permanent ARE supposed to permit the injured party to be compensated based on the degree and severity of the harm done. However, not ONCE did a single lawyer believe me. None accepted ANY of my malpractice cases even though I could have easily PROVED each and every one of those doctors who got away at harming me!!If only a lawyer like the one portrayed by Hackman existed in real life, or at least in mine. Think about this readers.... How much money would all aspects of the medical, auto, legal, government, and insurance multi billion dollar industries LOSE if doctors did their jobs better instead of hiding behind the law when they harm their patients which is a violation of their Hypocratic Oath. Bottom line...THERE IS NO PROFIT IN A WORLD FILLED WITH HEALTHY PEOPLE, BUT THERE AR TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS MADE BY KEEPING SICK PEOPLE ALIVE BUT WITHIUT THE ABILITY TO ACTUALLY LIVE!! Here's one more...of someone came up with the cure for Cancer or even the common cold. Do you think anything like that would EVER make it to the people in the real world? Compare the price of a cure, against the prices to keep treating and treating just ONE person for as many years as those medical people can keep that person alive while they MUST spend more and more money every day only to suffer longer until they finally die. Then the morticians get their chance to make several thousands of dollars to finish off what's left. Did you know it's ILLEGAL to spread cremated ashes on a grave plot already paid for because the cemetery is bound by LAW that they must dig a full size hole, line the whole with concrete, then after you bought the urn, put that urn into the concrete hole, cover it up, the you have to pay per letter for engraving just the name onto the headstone. Why? If people are just a pound or so of ashes, why in hell cant a family member dig their own hole, and stick the urn or just the ashes into that hole at the plot already paid for, cover it up, then pay for just the engraving? Answer....because there's NO BIG MONEY TO BE MADE BY DOING SUCH A SIMPLE THING. Not even allowe to dump the ashes at sea. And all people are allowed to think about is how Disney animations from the 1930-1960s ma have been racist. As Hackman says in the beginning of the movie...WELCOME TO THE MAD HATTERS TEA PARTY!!

Can anyone say "Pinto"? In an obvious reference to the infamous Ford-built, exploding pint-size vehicle, a class action suit is the main plot line. And it's interesting, too, to witness what a cost-analysis means when it comes to dealing with the retooling of a car factory or paying the victims money later. Hackman, another favorite of mine, is his usually godly self. If anyone has seen a bad Hackman performance, email me and tell me, please, because I haven't seen it and until I do, Hackman remains an acting god in my eyes. Mastrantonio is okay - she is not a favorite of mine, but she handles this role well, and despite someone's claims of predictability, this film is not that predictable. A few plot twists, early and late, make the film more enjoyable and keep the suspense alive right to the end. Fred Dalton Thompson (who became a U.S. Senator from Tennessee) and Laurence Fishburne front a strong supporting cast. But Hackman steals the movie, as he deserves to. If nothing else, you learn from this film that "actuary analysis" is just insane.

Everything starts nice: the subtleties of the story line are introduced in an admirable low key fashion. And the 'expert' critics say this is a great new twist on a worn out theme, and maybe at the time this movie was released it was - but that was then and this is now and frankly the idea wears thin. There seem to be three writers attached to this project and one will of course conjecture what they were up to, for sections of this loose tale seem rather poorly written - and even poorly directed, and the director Michael Apted, who three years earlier made the excellent Gorillas in the Mist, will have to forgive.The flaw seems to be thinking that the marriage of these two 'sub-plots' can work. And for a courtroom drama there is precious little courtroom time, and what is there jumps about a bit too much.The cast are great; the acting is generally top drawer - except for a mother daughter scene near the beginning which simply unequivocally does not work and undermines the viewer's confidence in the movie - and I never before realised how beautiful MEM could be - but maybe anyone dressed in threads like that would look as good.You'll enjoy it, you'll regard it as adequate entertainment, but if you're looking for excitement or a better overall premise, you'll be disappointed.