Stats:

Movie:
Erin Brockovich

Stars:
Julia Roberts
Albert Finney
Marg Helgenburger

Date: 2000

Bottom Line:
One of the best women's roles in years. Good story, good movie.

Erin Brockovich

Just as I was beginning to doubt that I would ever see something like this in my lifetime, Julia Roberts stars in a movie in which she does NOT portray a helpless woman looking for someone to take care of her. Perhaps Julia was as disenchanted with that screen image as I was.

The film is based on a real story and real characters. Julia plays Erin Brockovich, an extremely strong woman who is the twice divorced, single mother of three children. She is broke, jobless and then she gets injured in a car accident. She loses her case against the driver who ran a red light because she is a twice divorced, single mother of three who likes to dress as a hooker. She bullies her lawyer into giving her a job after she has nowhere to turn. He puts her to work as a file clerk and she stumbles into what turns out to be a monster of case when she can't figure out why files on a real estate problem contain medical records and soil samples.

At this point, "Erin Brockovich" begins to unfold like "Norma Rae" for this new decade. She interviews the people who live near a Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) in Hinkley, California. She discovers that PG&E knew that they had been dumping a toxic chemical into the groundwater of Hinkley which poisoned most of the residents. The case grows from 1 family to 11 people to a total of 634 families affected over a 20-year span.

Julia really sinks her teeth into this role. This is by far one of the most interesting women's roles in years. Erin is a depressed, lonely, hurt woman who has built a wall around her emotions 10 feet thick so that she might not get hurt again. She has no skills and no money. When she demands a job from her lawyer, Ed Masney, she softens it with, "please don't make me beg." As she begins to work on the case, she empathizes with the future plaintiffs and they join the suit because they trust her. As they trust her, her self esteem grows and she knows that her life is taking a turn for the better as she helps others. She develops the courage to ask for raises and she believes in herself.

The repartee between Finney and Roberts is well done. The movie doesn't shy away from the downside of Robert's dedication to her new life and job. Her kids and her new boyfriend suffer from the lack of time she gives them and she is Finney turns out to be one of the nicest and most caring lawyers in America, - he rewards her efforts halfway through by giving her a brand new Chevy Blazer and a $5,000 check. He gives her raises every time she asks. When she mouths off and tells him off, he always takes it. Ok, so much for reality-based human interactions.

At the end, we find out that they won the largest settlement in history and were going on to bigger and better suits against PG&E. Finney (the world's greatest lawyer/boss) gives Erin a $2 million bonus and they all move into a fabulous new office. By reading the credits, you discover that Erin marries her forgiving biker-boyfriend, George.

Julia has rebuilt a lot more respect for her career in her portrayal of Erin Brockovich. This is one of the strongest women's roles I have seen on the screen in a very long time. I would like to see Julia nominated for an Oscar, but that isn't going to happen. Universal and Columbia jointly released this film and they chose to release it in March instead of November/December when a role like this would have been better remembered in the minds of the Academy voters. Rule of thumb on release dates: You want to make a shitload of money, your movie gets released May 15th through July 10th. You want your film to get awards (and then make money), you release your film in November or December. This is why summer movies are big on action, low on content while most winter movies are low on action, high on content.

Bottom line: go see or rent this movie.