Art League shows off students’ creations in Union
ART from page 17
trayal of subtle catharsis.
A part-time student, GrifFing said
artists need a highly visible venue to
improve their skills.
“I’ve wanted to be an artist since
probably the second grade,” he said. “I
think of this as potentially a small step
towards becoming a professional
artist.”
The works that will be presented
were selected by a two-person jury.
Amy Martin, another featured
painter for the display, commented on
the subjectivity that goes with being
included in a juried show.
“It’s a toss-up,” Martin said. “It all
depends on the tastes and styles of the
jurors.”
The Art League is a student 6rgani
zation that has gone in and out of exis
tence for the last few years, Merritt said.
“Surprisingly, money hasn’t ever
been a problem,” he said. “For some
reason die organization has had trouble
consistently being active.”
Merritt said finding a good place to
showcase work has been a major obsta
cle in creating interest for the Art
League.
“It’s pretty hard to find a place for
students to show their work,” he said.
The Rotunda Gallery could be just
the place for art students to find an audi
ence at UNL for years to come.
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Late registratipn runs through jan. 19.
For free course catalogs
or for registration information:
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3/Visit our offices at the Clifford Hardin
Nebraska Center for Continuing Education,
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UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA - LINCOLN
Division of Continuing Studies 01999. university of Nebraska.
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Courtesy Photo
JOHN TRAVOLTA stars as Jan Schlichtmann, a tenacious personal-injury
attorney whose determination and ego entangles him in a case that threat
ens to ruin his successful career.
‘A Civil Action’ leaves
audience wondering
By Sam McKewon
Senior editor
Give “A Civil Action” this much:
It’s a bigger dose of reality than most
cracker-jack, John Grisham-like court
room dramas.
For one thing, the good guys, led by
lawyer Jan Schlichtmann (John
Travolta) don’t win. And much of the
film’s drama doesn’t take place in the
courtroom.
And for all its philosophical postur
ing about the legal system - that emo
tional investment equals courtroom
defeat - it’s all director Steve Zaillian
(“Searching for Bobby Fischer”) has
going for him. Any emotional impact is
dulled by its inconsistencies.
The case is certainly a potential tear
jerker. Based on Jonathan Harr’s best
selling book, the movie tells the true
story of eight families who saw their
children die of leukemia in Woburn,
Mass., possibly because of contaminat
ed water from a nearby factory.
Unbeknownst to him, one of
Schlichtmann’s partners in a small law
firm (Tony Shalhoub) takes on the case
for the affected families. The firm,
which asks for no money up front from
plaintiffs, can only take on suits that
promise big payoffs.
The families of Woburn turn out to
be such a case. The factory is owned by
two national food companies, Beatrice
Foods and W.R. Grace & Co., and
Schlichtmann hopes to sue and receive
—— l
The Facts
Title: ”A Civil Action”
Stars: John Travolta, Robert Duvall, William
H. Macy
Director: Steve Zaillian
Rating: PG-13 (adult language)
Grade: C
Five Words: “Civil Action” is a little boring
/
the payoff of a lifetime.
After this setup, the film goes
murky in its details. Little is told about
the actual case or the legal defense, led
by Beatrice Foods’ lawyer Jerome
Facher (Robert Duvall), a quirky
Harvard professor who loves the Red
Sox and outfoxing his opponents. We’re
just supposed to know that he’s a better
lawyer than Travolta’s character.
We’re also supposed to watch
Travolta transform from a slick, fast
dealing ambulance chaser to a man that
starts to feel for the families, and basi
cally, in paying his own money to win
the case, lose everything his firm owns.
Look hard or you might miss it.
Travolta makes no speeches about his
emotions. A couple of looks is all we
get. We know he’s spending money and
so are his partners, but do they raise a
shout when they each mortgage their
houses? Nope, except for the firm
accountant (William H. Macy) whose
role in die film is more comic than sad.
Best case: When Duvall’s character
drops the legal bomb of the film, saying
Schlichtmann hasn’t proven the chemi
cals contaminated the water, we have
little choice but to believe him. We don’t
Know what exact connection Beatrice
Foods or W.R. Grace & Co. had with
these factories, nor are we ever told. So,
with much of die facts of the case taken
out, we’re clueless as to the truth.
This may have been the whole
point. Little of the film is devoted to die
truth or the case. Rather we watch as
Schlichtmann loses all his money, his
friends and his livelihood. It’s a little
powerful, but not very engaging.
There are good scenes in the film,
most involving Duvall who gets better
with age. The best involves the main
courtroom scene, intercut with a lesson
in Facher’s class. We know why he’s a
good lawyer and why his side will win.
That Schlichtmann will lose
becomes clear early in the film. But at
the end die film reverses itself a little, as
Schlichtmann begins to realize what
really happened in Wobum. It’s news to
the audience, and the revelation of how
the water got polluted derives from
about a 10-second scale.
In the end; there are simply too
many questions left for the viewer. The
case takes eight years, but it feels more
like two weeks. The film is fractured, as
are the audience’s emotions afterward.
“A Civil Action” is real. And it
makes its point. But the limited extent to
which many viewers will care about that
point leaves the movie a disappointing
biography rather than a powerful
tragedy.
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Saturday
January 30,1999
9:00 am - 12:00 pm
Dance auditions 10:30 am
Mabel Lee Hall
University of Nebraska
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* Time off with pay
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