Mr. Grease Lighting himself is entrancing audiences once again with his latest flick, “A Civil Action,” a legal thriller based on a true story about a personal-injury lawyer who gets himself so rapped up in a case that it nearly destroys his life.

John Travolta, along with Academy Award winner Robert Duvall and a mix of other great actors, keeps you tuned into a movie that is not packed full of action, but full of intensity.

Travolta plays attorney Jan Schlichtmann, a lawyer who has always been in his profession for the money.

Then, a case is brought to his attention about a small town that has had abnormally large amounts of child deaths.

The kids’ parents have a sneaking suspicion that their children’s deaths have something to do with the town’s drinking water, so they ask Schlichtmann to investigate.

He is not interested in the case until he starts snooping around near the town river and finds a goldmine. He sees that one of the companies that is believed to be dumping waste is a part of Beatrice Foods, a multi-million dollar company that Schlichtmann plans on squeezing for everything it’s worth.

The only person who stands in Schlichtmann’s way is Beatrice attorney Jerome Facher (Duvall).

Duvall plays his usual dry-humored, cocky self who happens to be friends with judge Walter Skinner (John Lithgow), and together they torment Schlichtmann mercilessly.

The most pain-staking task that Schlichtmann faces is finding proof. He pays to bring in a large team of scientists, geologists and all their equipment to find what he needs. It is a very expensive process, and since he has his whole staff working on the case, there is a lot of money going out.

Like any other personal-injury lawyer, Schlichtmann wants to win his case by earning sympathy from the jury. He tries to achieve that by putting the families of the children on the stand.

In an attempt to stop Schlichtmann’s plans, Facher speaks to judge Skinner, and Schlichtmann’s plot is ruined.

With that let-down, Schlichtmann has to rely more on his proof of water contamination — proof that cannot be found.

Due to the expertise of Facher, the case against Beatrice Foods is dropped the day after Schlichtmann denies a settlement offer.

Now, Schlichtmann has to battle against a much smaller company called Grace & Co. if he chooses to continue the case.

As the plot progresses, Schlichtmann becomes more and more emotionally involved in the case to the point that he is no longer in it for the money. All of his possessions have been mortgaged, he is broke and is back to square one.

But he keeps going.

“A Civil Action” is an excellent film. It is a realistic movie with a very reality-grasping ending. And best of all, there is no cheesy love story.

In his firm, Travolta is joined by a great supporting cast. William H. Macy (“Fargo”) and Tony Shalhoub (“Wings”) add some good subtle humor to the movie, managing to accent Travolta’s character during their interactions.

Duvall and Lithgow put forth very solid performances, though the personality of Duvall’s character very much resembles his character in “Deep Impact.”

Director, executive producer and screenwriter Steven Zaillian does an amazing job with every aspect of this film. Zaillian has worked on screenplays for an entourage of other movies, including “Schindler’s List,” “Mission Impossible” and “Clear and Present Danger.”

The storyline is put together very well and doesn’t leave you hanging. Flowing scenes and well-written dialogue make this great to watch.

The intense courtroom scenes and the insanely interesting story compensate for the lack of action.

Based on a true story, “A Civil Action” makes you think twice before drinking your own tap water.

4 1/2 stars out of five

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Kyle Moss is a freshman in journalism and mass communication from Urbandale.