ERIN BROCKOVICH (2000) / ** 1/2
Directed by Steven Soderbergh. Screenplay by Susannah Grant and Richard Lagravenese. Starring Julia Roberts, Albert Finney, Aaron Eckhart. Running time: 129 minutes. Rated AA for offensive language. Reviewed on March 29th, 2000.
By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN
It's said that everyone loves an underdog. In that case, the box office success of new Julia Roberts vehicle "Erin Brockovich" is all but assured, for here is a movie all about celebrating the underdog. Not only is its heroine essentially an everywoman with the same problems and worries that confront the rest of us, but the villain of the piece is big business, a favorite target of the common man. The fact that the movie is based on real life events is merely the icing on the proverbial cake.
The story begins around 1992, when Erin Brockovich (Roberts), a twice-divorced mother of three, manages to gain employment at a legal firm run by Ed Masry (Albert Finney). Brockovich has no prior legal experience and Masry initially balks at the proposition, but Brockovich finally convinces him to hire her on a trial basis ("Don't make me beg," she quietly pleads with him in front of the entire office). Setting to work as a legal secretary, Brockovich comes across some real estate files which, to her consternation, include medical records. Gaining no insight from her reluctant coworkers as to why this might be the case, Brockovich visits the home of Donna Jensen (Marg Helgenberger) to learn more.
The Jensens live in Hinkley, a small California town built around a refinery run by Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E). The family has been plagued by medical problems, and Brockovich soon discovers that the cause may be hexavalent chromium, a pollutant which has leaked from the PG&E plant into the groundwater and has been contaminating the community for the past thirty years. Soon it becomes clear that the health of not just the Jensens, but indeed most of Hinkley's current and past residents, has been damaged by PG&E's neglect and outright lies (the company actually claimed at one point that the chromium in the environment was a type beneficial to humans). Brockovich manages to convince Masry to take on the Hinkley case, but must overcome people's perceptions of her own shortcomings as the lawsuit proceeds forward.
As the title implies, this is a movie not so much about the legal battle against PG&E as it is about Erin Brockovich herself. As such, it lives and dies on the performance of Julia Roberts. Fortunately Roberts is up to the challenge, demonstrating a facility for both the dramatic and comedic elements of the role. This is not the sort of character one would necessarily expect Roberts to take on, but it is not hard to see its appeal. Brockovich is tenacious, brassy and self-confident, an extrovert willing to speak her mind almost to the point of recklessness. Her life has not been an easy one -- "I got pregnant too young" she admits at one point, although there is no question that the overriding passion of her life is her children -- but she is doing the best she can.
No doubt the aspect of the character which has received the most attention has been Brockovich's provocative style of dress, but Roberts manages to pull it off. Rather than making her looking slutty, the clothes help to accentuate the idea that this is a woman who has her own way of getting things done, who refuses to be cowed by the expectations of others.
But "Erin Brockovich" is so focussed on the title character that the rest of the cast largely goes by the wayside. Finney does a respectable job as Ed Masry, but lives out the movie in Roberts' orbit. Masry's entire personality seems to be defined in terms of how he reacts to Brockovich, and consequently he has no capacity to develop on his own. The other major supporting actor is Aaron Eckhart, playing Brockovich's Harley-loving next-door neighbor and romantic interest, George. It is here that the film is at its weakest: their relationship is unconvincing from start to finish, and the flimsy George is never given much characterization. He seems to exist purely to either facilitate or complicate Brockovich's life, and his disappearance from much of the last third of the movie is all too easily overlooked.
"Erin Brockovich" does a decent job of portraying the real-life legal struggles against PG&E. It is smart enough to balance the courtroom dramatics with the more human elements of the case, such as the impact of the medical problems on the Hinkley families, and the way Brockovich's involvement affects her relationship with her children. It is peppered with laughs, but avoids going over the edge into parody. However, the film struggles to generate any real sense of incident. The lawyers representing PG&E all come across as hamfisted and ineffectual, and there is never much of a feeling of risk that things might not work out. Scenes such as one where Masry discusses the possible bankruptcy of the law firm, and a court proceeding where a judge could have dismissed the entire suit, are quickly defused and feel tokenistic.
The movie is also plagued by moments of bizarre characterization. Much is made, for example, of Brockovich's love for her kids. And yet, when she receives an anonymous phone call warning her to stop digging into the problems at Hinkley, almost nothing is made of it. This is not to say that her decision to proceed with the investigation indicates she doesn't care about her children; on the contrary, it demonstrates how passionate Brockovich is about both. But it seems inconceivable to me that she should treat the incident so offhandedly, dismiss it so easily. This is only exacerbated by the fact that the threat is never referred to again. What, then, was the point?
"Erin Brockovich" is a good movie and a good vehicle for Julia Roberts. But it sets the bar too low, settling for being just another popcorn movie instead of striving for deeper characterization or a more compelling screenplay. For a movie about a woman possessed of such determination and conviction, it is unfortunate that "Erin Brockovich" does not possess quite the same qualities.
Copyright © 2000 Shannon Patrick Sullivan. Archived at http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sps/movies/ErinBrockovich.html
-- _______________________________________________________________________ / Shannon Patrick Sullivan | "We are all in the gutter, but some of us \ | | are looking at the stars." | \ shannon@morgan.ucs.mun.ca | -- Oscar Wilde /
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews