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Class Action

Play trailer Poster for Class Action R 1991 1h 49m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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78% Tomatometer 27 Reviews 51% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
Liberal activist lawyer Jedediah (Gene Hackman) alienated daughter Maggie (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) years ago when she discovered his many affairs. Now a conservative corporate lawyer, Maggie agrees to go up against her father in court. To gain promotion, she must defend an auto manufacturer against charges that their explosion-prone station wagons are unsafe. As her mother begs for peace, Maggie takes on her dad in a trial that turns increasingly personal and nasty.

Critics Reviews

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Joe Brown Washington Post 01/01/2000
Apted gives this smarter-than-average script a slick look and expertly develops suspense. Go to Full Review
Rita Kempley Washington Post 01/01/2000
It is the fierce accord between Mastrantonio and Hackman that distinguishes the movie. Go to Full Review
Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times 01/01/2000
3/4
What I liked best was the way the whole legal case and all of its twists and turns were used to force the Hackman and Mastrantonio characters into learning things about themselves. Go to Full Review
Lew Baxter Liverpool Echo Jul 22
4/5
No matter what Gene Hackman tackles, it always turns up trumps. Go to Full Review
Rene Jordan El Nuevo Herald (Miami) 01/25/2023
History shows that a lot of action isn't needed when you have class. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review
David Nusair Reel Film Reviews 12/27/2020
2.5/4
...a deliberately-paced and surprisingly uneventful drama that nevertheless benefits from its uniformly compelling performances... Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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03/16/2024 Director Michael Apted makes a family-court drama. How often does a father fight his own daughter by legal matters? Gene Hackman, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Laurence Fishburne Jedidiah ends up fighting Maggie for years after he was unfaithful to her mother. Now they end up in the biggest case of their lives; defending an auto manufacturer against charges that their explosion-prone station wagons are unsafe. As her mother begs for peace, Maggie takes on her dad in a trial that turns increasingly personal and nasty. There is a lot of courtroom scenes going on but the father-daughter dynamic is very nicely handled. The case forces them to look more at themselves. See more Jelisije J @jjosifovic 03/05/2024 Two lawyers that are father and daughter have to go against each other in court and the family drama is so organic and so realistic that its ends up being a great little underrated drama. See more Michael W @mawilps 01/08/2024 This courtroom movie was really good. Gene Hackman, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Lawrence Fishburne, Colin Friels, Donald Moffat, and the rest of the cast did a fantastic job in this movie. The plot of the movie was dramatic, thrilling, and shocking. It's about working against your own family in a court case only to realize that the people you work with are involved. If you haven't seen this movie yet, check it out sometime. It's a must see. Don't listen to the bad reviews this movie has gotten. Those people have terrible tastes in movies. See more 03/15/2021 Director Michael Apted makes a family-court drama. How often does a father fight his own daughter by legal matters? Gene Hackman, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Laurence Fishburne Jedidiah ends up fighting Maggie for years after he was unfaithful to her mother. Now they end up in the biggest case of their lives; defending an auto manufacturer against charges that their explosion-prone station wagons are unsafe. As her mother begs for peace, Maggie takes on her dad in a trial that turns increasingly personal and nasty. There is a lot of courtroom scenes going on but the father-daughter dynamic is very nicely handled. The case forces them to look more at themselves. See more Steve D 07/10/2020 Not much new but the actors work well together. See more 10/16/2017 Almost convoluted, it takes some patience but I don't know why the ending wasn't as satisfying as it should have been. See more Read all reviews
Class Action

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Movie Info

Synopsis Liberal activist lawyer Jedediah (Gene Hackman) alienated daughter Maggie (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) years ago when she discovered his many affairs. Now a conservative corporate lawyer, Maggie agrees to go up against her father in court. To gain promotion, she must defend an auto manufacturer against charges that their explosion-prone station wagons are unsafe. As her mother begs for peace, Maggie takes on her dad in a trial that turns increasingly personal and nasty.
Director
Michael Apted
Producer
Robert W. Cort, Ted Field, Scott Kroopf
Screenwriter
Carolyn Shelby, Christopher Ames, Samantha Shad
Distributor
20th Century Fox
Production Co
20th Century Fox, Interscope Communications
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 15, 1991, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 1, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$23.9M
Runtime
1h 49m
Sound Mix
Dolby, Surround