NoBadPicks

Movies Like A Civil Action

If you loved A Civil Action's Drama storytelling, these films deliver a similar experience — carefully selected for tone, themes, and emotional depth. Each pick includes where to watch it right now.

Top Picks

Erin Brockovich
7.4

Erin Brockovich

2000

A twice-divorced mother of three who sees an injustice, takes on the bad guy and wins -- with a little help from her push-up bra. Erin goes to work for an attorney and comes across medical records describing illnesses clustered in one nearby town. She starts investigating and soon exposes a monumental cover-up.

The Safety of Objects
6.4

The Safety of Objects

2002

In a suburban landscape, the lives of several families interlace with loss, despair and personal crisis. Esther Gold has lost focus on all but caring for her comatose son, Paul, and neglects her daughter and husband. Lawyer Jim Train is devoted to his career, not his family. Helen Christianson wants to find a new spark in life, while Annette Jennings tries to rebuild hers.

Marshall
7.2

Marshall

2017

Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Supreme Court Justice, battles through one of his career-defining cases.

Call Me Crazy: A Five Film
7.0

Call Me Crazy: A Five Film

2013

A psychotherapist helps a law student cope with schizophrenia in one of five interconnected tales dealing with mental illness.

The Rainmaker
7.0

The Rainmaker

1997

Fresh out of law school and desperate for work, idealistic rookie Rudy Baylor takes on a powerful insurance company accused of denying a dying boy’s claim. Teaming up with a scrappy, unlicensed paralegal, he finds himself in a David-versus-Goliath courtroom battle that tests his ethics, courage, and belief in justice.

The Verdict
7.5

The Verdict

1982

Frank Galvin is a down-on-his-luck lawyer and reduced to drinking and ambulance chasing, when a former associate reminds him of his obligations in a medical malpractice suit by serving it to Galvin on a silver platter—all parties are willing to settle out of court. Blundering his way through the preliminaries, Galvin suddenly realizes that the case should actually go to court—to punish the guilty, to get a decent settlement for his clients... and to restore his standing as a lawyer.

Strange Weather
5.8

Strange Weather

2016

Years after her son's suicide, a woman longs to confront both the past and a friend of his who took his business idea.

True Colors
6.2

True Colors

1991

Two law school friends find themselves at odds when one becomes a Justice Department lawyer and the other goes into politics.

More Movies Like A Civil Action

Reversal of Fortune
6.6

Reversal of Fortune

1990

Wealthy Sunny von Bülow lies brain-dead, husband Claus guilty of attempted murder; but he says he's innocent and hires Alan Dershowitz for his appeal.

The Trials of Cate McCall
6.4

The Trials of Cate McCall

2013

In order to be reinstated to the bar and recover custody of her daughter, a hotshot lawyer, now in recovery and on probation, must take on the appeal of a woman wrongfully convicted of murder.

Gracie
6.2

Gracie

2007

A teenager faces an uphill battle when she fights to give women the opportunity to play competitive soccer.

El Chicano
6.6

El Chicano

2019

A pair of twin brothers from East L.A. choose to live their lives differently and end up on opposite sides of the law.

Dark Waters
7.5

Dark Waters

2019

A tenacious attorney uncovers a dark secret that connects a growing number of unexplained deaths to one of the world's largest corporations. In the process, he risks everything — his future, his family, and his own life — to expose the truth.

Roman J. Israel, Esq.
6.3

Roman J. Israel, Esq.

2017

Hard-nosed liberal lawyer Roman J. Israel has been fighting the good fight forever while others take the credit. When his partner – the firm's frontman – has a heart attack, Israel suddenly takes on that role. He soon discovers some unsettling truths about the firm – truths that conflict with his values of helping the poor and dispossessed – and finds himself in an existential crisis that leads to extreme actions.

The Girl in the Book
5.8

The Girl in the Book

2015

The story of a young writer's transformation when her past invades her present.

The Burial
7.1

The Burial

2023

When a handshake deal goes sour, funeral home owner Jeremiah O'Keefe enlists charismatic, smooth-talking attorney Willie E. Gary to save his family business. Tempers flare and laughter ensues as the unlikely pair bond while exposing corporate corruption and racial injustice.

Collision
5.8

Collision

2022

Over the course of one fateful day, a corrupt businessman and his socialite wife race to save their daughter from a notorious crime lord.

Lucky Them
6.0

Lucky Them

2013

More interested in partying and flirting with young musicians than work, veteran rock journalist Ellie Klug has one last chance to prove her value to her magazine’s editor: a no-stone-unturned search to discover what really happened to long lost rock god, Matt Smith, who also happens to be her ex-boyfriend. Teaming up with an eccentric amateur documentary filmmaker, Ellie hits the road in search of answers.

American Violet
6.7

American Violet

2008

A young single mother of four living in a small Texas town. Arrested during a drug raid and accused of a crime she didn't commit, Dee goes against the wishes of her mother, Alma, and rejects the plea-bargain that would free her from jail, but brand her as a felon for life. As word begins to spread that similar incidents are occurring in poor communities all across the country, Dee realizes that there are more mothers out there like her, and decides to take a stand against powerful district attorney Calvin Beckett. Now, despite being well aware of District Attorney Beckett's fierce reputation, Dee enlists the aid of ACLU attorney David Cohen and former narcotics officer Sam Conroy in overcoming the seemingly insurmountable obstacles that, if not navigated with the greatest of caution, now threaten to destroy her life. With the custody of her children on the line, one brave mother wages a valiant battle to strike at the very heart of the corrupt Texas justice system.

Puncture
6.6

Puncture

2011

A lawyer who is a drug addict fights a medical-supplies corporation in court while battling his personal demons.

Why These Movies Are Similar

These recommendations share core qualities with A Civil Action (1998): Drama themes, similar narrative structure, and comparable emotional depth. NoBadPicks uses a combination of TMDB collaborative filtering, genre matching, and AI analysis to surface films most likely to resonate with fans of A Civil Action.

See full details for A Civil Action (1998)

People Also Search For