EBERT vs ERIN BROCKOVICH by Herb Kane http://www.criticdoctor.com
"Erin Brockovich" is a funny, heartwarming movie and Julia Roberts may have given her best performance ever - Oscar material indeed. So it's no big surprise that only a few critics chastised the movie, one of the most brutal reviews coming from Roger Ebert (Chicago Sun-Times).
Ebert's scathing 746 word review of "Erin Brockovich" may indicate he was looking for a remake of the film "A Civil Action" (he mentions the film four times). When Roger Ebert writes a good review, make no mistake - it's a good one. However, this is the worst he's written since his take on "Patch Adams."
Out of the blocks, Ebert attacks Roberts' sexy wardrobe (based on Erin's real-life clothing) and accuses Roberts' natural beauty for upstaging the material. "If the medium is the message, the message in this movie is sex," said Ebert.
Jay Carr (Boston Globe) said, "Roberts's Erin assertively plays the sex card, dressing in miniskirts and low-cut jerseys that help her talk her way past reluctant record-keepers in dusty municipal archives. But the strength of Roberts's commitment and the unstoppability of Erin's moral outrage count for a lot more here."
The movie doesn't even have a sex scene! Granted the underdressed Erin obviously doesn't go unnoticed, but Roberts' performance and her character's underlying motives are much more prominent.
Ebert belittles Albert Finney's performance (Ed Masry, a lawyer) comparing his character to an H&R Block office manager, "He's dampened; there's no fire in his performance, and when he complains that the cost of the lawsuit may bankrupt him, all we can think about is the infinitely greater impact of John Travolta's similar dialogue in 'A Civil Action.'"
This isn't "A Civil Action," Roger.
A closer understanding of the character comes from Mick LaSalle (San Francisco Chronicle): "Though Finney's main function is to act befuddled by his tempestuous clerk, the audience comes into a full sense of this fellow as a decent guy coasting toward retirement who gradually becomes re-energized." Robert Wilonsky (New Times Los Angeles) also observes, "He's an old man awaiting retirement; Ed's exhausted, going broke, and finished with law."
Finney is playing the character as intended.
A USA TODAY review said, "Atop all the talk about this being Roberts' career performance so far (and it is), it would be unjust to overlook that this is also the best screen role Finney has had in years."
Indeed this was the finest performance of Roberts' career, but Ebert complains about Roberts' acting, too - that "we're always aware a performance is going on." On the contrary, Michael O'Sullivan (Washington Post) got it right: "Roberts is so unself-conscious, so free of the cheap accents and trailer-trash superficialities affected by movie stars when they go slumming (which only call attention to the actor), that it's easy to forget you're watching a performance."
Kenneth Turan (Los Angeles Times) said, "Yet there is the sense about 'Erin Brockovich' that this is the part Roberts has long been looking for. It's a role that allows the actress, like her character, to use her allure for a good cause, to put her undeniable star qualities, her great gift for humor, empathy, romance and vulnerability, at the service of a character with real texture."
Ebert's fixation on "A Civil Action" calls for more legal action in this movie, not so-called drab disputes among lawyers. "There's none of the juice that Robert Duvall's company attorney brought to 'A Civil Action,'" said Ebert.
For the love of God, Roger. Again - this is not "A Civil Action." This movie is not intended to play out that way.
Lou Lumenick (New York Post) said, "'Erin Brockovich' is less a courtroom drama than a journey of self-discovery." Michael O'Sullivan adds, "In the end, 'Erin Brockovich' is less about punitive damages and compensation and sticking it to The Man than it is about the difference each one of us makes."
Ed Johnson-Ott (NUVO NewsWeekly) spells it out plainly, "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."
Most critics compare films with a similar theme in a review and that's fine. Usually it's worthwhile and reflective. But Ebert doesn't just compare in this case, he practically demands a twin. You cannot consider a movie on its own merits by hoping for the same formula and direction of a similar film. I realize I don't need to teach this Pulitzer Prize winning critic how to write a review, but in my opinion, Ebert went a bit far here - stepping over the line with "A Civil Action."
The magic of "Erin Brockovich" was the chemistry between Erin and Masey. Owen Gleiberman (Entertainment Weekly) brilliantly observes, "Erin and Ed become tag-team detective partners, and it's a delight to watch Roberts, with her flirtatious sparkle and undertow of melancholy, ricochet off Finney's wonderfully jaded, dry-as-beef-jerky performance as the beleaguered career attorney who knows too much about the loopholes of his profession to have much faith left in it."
Ebert concludes, "'Erin Brockovich' has a screenplay with the depth and insight of a cable-TV docudrama, and that won't do for a 126-minute 'major production.'"
I contend Ebert's review of "Erin Brockovich" has the depth and insight of a rejected high school term paper, and that won't do for a 746 word "major film review." I'm surprised Ebert didn't criticize and accuse the film for trying to use a bald chemotherapy child to manipulate emotions as he unjustly did in his review of "Patch Adams." Regardless, Ebert's review has little to do with "Erin Brockovich' and more to do with the movie "A Civil Action."
A.O. Scott (New York Times) summed the movie up best: "'Erin Brockovich' will make you laugh. It will make you cry. It will make you stand up and cheer. 'Erin Brockovich' is the feel-good movie of the year."
I normally do not spend this much time on a single film critic, but Ebert's review required a civil action. "Erin Brockovich" was an exceptional film worthy to defend. The film alone, however, is the movie's best defense.
--THE CRITIC DOCTOR (c) 2000 by Herb Kane All Rights Reserved.
Email: herb@criticdoctor.com
-- Herb Kane "The Critic Doctor" http://www.criticdoctor.com
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