Erin Brockovich (2000) Julia Roberts, Albert Finney, Aaron Eckhart, Marg Helgenberger, Cherry Jones, Veanne Cox, Conchata Ferrell, Tracey Walter, Peter Coyote, Scotty Leavenworth, Gemmenne De la Pena, Jamie Harrold, Erin Brockovich. Music by Thomas Newman. Screenplay by Susannah Grant. Directed by Steven Soderbergh. 131 minutes. Rated R, 4 stars (out of five stars)
Review by Ed Johnson-Ott, NUVO Newsweekly www.nuvo.com Archive reviews at http://us.imdb.com/ReviewsBy?Edward+Johnson-Ott To receive reviews by e-mail at no charge, send subscription requests to ejohnsonott@prodigy.net or e-mail ejohnsonott-subscribe@onelist.com with the word "subscribe" in the subject line.
Following the sneak preview of "Erin Brockovich," I listened to a couple of young men discussing the movie. While agreeing that the film was very good, they mocked the notion of Julia Roberts playing a down-on-her-luck working-class woman. As the two prattled on, I fought the urge to interrupt their conversation and dramatically intone, "Please, don't hate her because she's beautiful!"
"Erin Brockovich" is an enormously rewarding tale of a real life hero and Julia Roberts does terrific work in the title role. Renowned independent film director Steven Soderbergh ("sex, lies and videotape") has crafted a mainstream film with a realistic feel that manages to present disturbing facts in a crowd-pleasing fashion without compromising the integrity of its source material. He also provides Julia Roberts the best forum for her acting abilities to date. As Brockovich, an acerbic twice-divorced mother of three, she hits a grand slam with a vibrant performance crackling with authenticity.
After coming out the loser in a "can't miss" lawsuit over a car accident, Brockovich badgers her rumpled lawyer, Ed Masry (Albert Finney), into giving her a job as a legal assistant. Her coworkers detest her foul mouth and brash manners, not to mention her insistence on wearing outrageously sexy outfits more appropriate to a biker bar than a law office. While her presentation style is abrasive at best, Brockovich proves to be a fiercely effective employee.
Uncovering some paperwork that just doesn't make sense, Brockovich visits a tiny California desert town to check out the incongruities. She learns that a Pacific Gas & Electric plant has been involved in a quiet campaign to buy off the locals, paying their medical bills and offering modest sums to purchase their homes. The residents are grateful to the "caring" corporation, until Brockovich discovers that the area water is tainted with a toxic chromium rust inhibitor. The chemicals, which the utility told the people was "good for them," is the likely cause of a laundry list of horrific medical conditions affecting the haggard townspeople.
Brockovich takes this information to Masry, who gradually realizes he is dealing with a lawsuit of potentially historic proportions. The tired lawyer, in the sunset of his career, is appropriately concerned that he may lack the resources and energy to take on a corporate giant. But nonstop badgering from Brockovich results in his reluctant acceptance of the David versus Goliath case.
If this sounds a lot like 1998's "A Civil Action," it is, but with a crucial difference in approach. Where "A Civil Action" followed lawyers and showcased courtroom dramatics, "Erin Brockovich" remains focused on the people whose lives were devastated by corporate neglect. We watch Brockovich as she travels from home to home, trying to build and maintain hope with families beaten down by their various physical ailments.
But the film is not a downer. By keeping the amazing Brockovich front and center, Soderbergh gives us a production as entertaining as it is poignant. Brockovich has a hell of a mouth on her and is given to gloriously acidic speeches and tart one-liners. But she doesn't know when to stop and the fiery woman often turns out to her own worst enemy. Brockovich also is well aware of her good looks and uses sexy clothing and push-up bras to open doors that would remain closed to most. Roberts is spectacular in the role, creating a wonderfully three-dimensional character.
Incidentally, the real Erin Brockovich makes a brief appearance as a put-upon waitress who offers the fictional Brockovich a bit of advice. Watch her eyes and listen to her line delivery, and you'll see that Roberts had a dynamic role model to work from.
Albert Finney proves a grand match to Roberts' lightning and thunder, reacting magnificently to her take-no-prisoners approach. What a delight it is to see the veteran actor studying his young charge with expressions that simultaneously reflect his delight in her impudence and fear that Ms. Mouth will screw things up.
Aaron Eckhart, lead viper in the indie hit "In the Company of Men" and self absorbed schlub in "Your Friends and Neighbors," transforms himself yet again as a good-hearted biker who becomes Brockovich's boyfriend, only to find himself relegated to being little more than a live-in baby-sitter as Brockovich grows obsessed with her crusade. Eckhart is excellent and his role is a welcome reversal on the countless stand-by-your-man neglected females in other films.
In addition to his obvious rapport with the cast, Soderbergh handles this big story with great technical skill as well, deliberately overexposing the desert town scenes and using hand-held cameras to give personal moments a home-movie intimacy. And, to his credit, he tells the complex legal tale clearly with, miracle of miracles, only one very short courtroom scene.
At times, the production becomes overly glib, but even that minor failing somehow fits, given the style of the main character. "Erin Brockovich" is the first truly satisfying film of 2000, an inspiring and terrifically entertaining tale of tenacity and triumph. Don't miss this one.
© 2000 Ed Johnson-Ott
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