ERIN BROCKOVICH A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 2000 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): *** 1/2
Erin Brockovich is a "Dressing for Success" kind of gal. She's the kind who might read the book and carefully do just the opposite. Her office clothes look like something that Playboy magazine might have come up with for a photo spread of women in law offices.
Wearing micro-mini skirts and bras that shove her breasts so high that they look in constant danger of popping out into your face, Erin is the sort of woman that attracts a considerable amount of attention.
Have I mentioned yet that she is played by Julia Roberts?
ERIN BROCKOVICH, directed by Steven Soderbergh (SEX, LIES AND VIDEOTAPE and OUT OF SIGHT), is based on a true story. The movie has two stories for the price of one, and both are terrific.
One concerns the foul-mouthed but eminently likable Erin, as she struggles to make a living as a single mom with three young kids. Susannah Grant's screenplay turns this into a comedy just a few small notches below NOTTING HILL in the level of its humor. Roberts is a charmer. No matter how many times she uses the F-word, she's still just as adorable since the character she plays probably talks just that way. Even when she calls her coworkers names such as "bitch" and worse, it is easy to forgive Erin her flaws.
The other part of the movie concerns a contamination case against PG & E (Pacific Gas and Electric) that's similar to A CIVIL ACTION but much more compelling. In both movies we are asked to accept at face value that the Hollywood version of a complex legal case is the correct one. Whatever the truth is, this movie presents a cogent case that sounds plausible. And within the context of the movie, it certainly works.
Erin, a former Miss Wichita, is an outspoken woman who clearly bears some responsibility for her lack of "luck" in life. She has 3 kids, 2 ex-husbands and no job. Whenever she gets work, she leaves her kids with some pretty unreliable people for whom the word "caregiver" would be a major misnomer.
After a car accident, Erin's abusive mouth loses her any chance of a settlement when she explodes in court. Her lawyer, Ed Masry, doesn't want anything to do with her after the outburst. But, since she can't get a job, she initiates what is effectively a sit-down strike in his office until he hires her to work for him. She has no skills but is full of moxie.
At the top of his form, Albert Finney plays Ed with wry charm. His clothes are as badly conservative as Erin's are tackily sexual. He takes constant ridicule from Erin, whom he hires, but he eventually learns how to dance with the tiger without getting his head bitten off too often. The chemistry between them is precious. She is a firecracker on a short fuse, and he is an old businessman who worries that his one-man law office may go bankrupt.
Almost as a lark, Ed lets Erin look into a ground water contamination case in Hinkley, California. The case soon consumes her life. Frequently abandoning her kids to the tattooed biker, and sometimes boyfriend, George (Aaron Eckhart from IN THE COMPANY OF MEN), who lives next door, Erin devotes her every waking moment to research into the case. The well-written script makes the case crystal clear even if it is quite complex. Luckily for the children, George appears to be the first adult who takes the time to play with them and really devote himself to them.
Erin learns about an incredible number of tumors and cancers that have occurred in Hinkley. Her secret weapons in this investigation, as she points out to Ed, are her boobs. She sexually charms men to reveal details of the case. And she makes genuine, personal friends of just about everyone in town. An indefatigable worker, she risks everything to get the best settlement possible.
The movie has a few flaws, including needing just a little tightening up in the editing. The only irritating part is that a key plot twist is too obviously telegraphed in advance and for no good reason.
A real crowd-pleaser of a movie, it delivers excellent value for your entertainment dollars while still staying honest. Erin is the sort of woman you'd like to know. And the type you'd probably have just as much fun trading barbs with as Ed does. The movie about her life is an easy one to recommend to one and all. It's a fun story about a real character, in all senses of the word.
ERIN BROCKOVICH runs 2:06. It is rated R for language and would be fine for most teenagers.
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com
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