"Hot Coffee"
U.S. Documentary competition
***
Director Susan Saladoff is a lawyer, and she marshals a compelling case against the corporate interests who push "tort reform" and other tricks to game the civil justice system against the average citizen. The movie uses four horrific cases -- including the infamous McDonald's hot coffee case -- to make points about the way corporations create public-relations distortions, lobby for caps on damages, donate to business-friendly judicial candidates, and hide mandatory arbitration in contracts (check your cellphone plan, kiddies) to insulate themselves from accountability. Then Saladoff leaves the verdict for you, the moviegoing jury, to decide.
"Hot Coffee" screens again at: Thursday, Jan. 27, at 4 p.m. at the Redstone Cinema 7, Park City ; Friday, Jan. 28, at 6 p.m. at the Broadway Centre Cinema IV, Salt Lake City; and Saturday, Jan. 29, at 8:30 a.m. at Prospector Square Cinema, Park City.
- Sean P. Means
