A liberal activist lawyer alienated his daughter Maggie 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.
Acting
Hackman and Mastrantonio weaponize decades of resentment.
Writing
The deposition scene where family secrets detonate mid-testimony.
Direction
Apted makes a conference room feel claustrophobic.
Director
Michael Apted
Gene Hackman
Jedediah Tucker Ward
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
Maggie Ward
Colin Friels
Michael Grazier
Joanna Merlin
Estelle Ward
Laurence Fishburne
Nick Holbrook
Donald Moffat
Quinn
Jan Rubeš
Pavel
Matt Clark
Judge Symes
Fred Thompson
Dr. Getchell
Jonathan Silverman
Brian
Joan McMurtrey
Ann
Anne Ramsay
Deborah
Tim Hopper
Howie
Robert David Hall
Steven Kellen
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released during peak 'lawsuit panic' era; the Ford Pinto case echoes loudly. Studios were terrified of product liability stories.
Hackman and Mastrantonio reportedly refused to speak off-camera during the trial scenes to maintain authentic hostility.
US
