A Civil Action is a 1998 American drama film that was directed and writeen by Steven Zaillian. It stars John Travolta, Robert Duvall, Tony Shalhoub, William H. Macy, John Lithgow, Kathleen Quinlan, James Gandolfini and Stephen Fry. It is based on the book of the same name by Jonathan Harr. Both the book and the film are based on a true story of a court case about environmental pollution that took place in Woburn, Massachusetts, in the 1980s.