Erin Brockovich - Forte come la verità

Julia Roberts did an excellent job of Erin Brockovich which is true story about a woman trying to make a difference in the water-pollution that takes place in a certain town. Julia Roberts attitude toward sticking up for herself was so perfect that it made the movie funny in a way. I saw this on The Starz channel and it was really good for a movie based on a true story. I have to own this on DVD. Check it out though you won't be disappointed!

The only thing bigger than Julia Roberts' chest in "Erin Brockovich" is the heart this film has. While it is a drama, it would be more apt to describe the plot as a struggle, because it's all about fighting for what you believe in and overcoming the odds and all opposing forces. Nothing bad actually happens in this movie, at all, but it's the complications, the setbacks the moral struggles along the way that make it shine.

"Erin Brockovich" stars Julia Roberts in the title role in a film based on the true story of a twice-married mother of three who is desperate to find a way to make a living and provide for her family. After a failed attempt at suing for damages after a car accident, Brockovich turns to her lawyer, Ed Masry (Albert Finney), for a job doing anything she can at his law firm. Reluctantly he accepts and soon Brockovich finds herself uncovering a potentially huge case.

Roberts had to have been a no-questions-asked best actress winner after this performance. As Brockovich she is incredible playing multiple roles as the loving mother, the driven working-woman, the troubled lover, everything. The mood swings are effortless for her. Perhaps the best element of her performance is that she comes across as glaringly flawed, even if she is quite likable. Her lines are killer and delivered with command. Though some of her rants are over the top, they're really clever nonetheless.

Finney's character is much the same way. He is really enjoyable to watch and gives a great performance even though his character never gets truly dramatic.

This is just a great screenplay by Susannah Grant. It's almost completely devoid of melodrama and yet it tackles so many real life issues. Brockovich's struggle to balance her work with her family brings up an issue that can connect with anyone, although the feminist tones of the film obviously won't connect as strongly with men. Director Steven Soderbergh feels very distant from the film. Every so often a shot or sequence will be artistic, but he allows the story to tell itself for the most part.

"Erin Brockovich" is better than the average feel-good story. When there's little melodrama and great acting, a feel-good story becomes a great movie. Sports films based on true stories are feel-good stories, but they don't get nominated for best picture. While it may all seem too good to be true and the positive seems to trump the negative more times than it ought to, the film still feels very real and one that no one should miss.

In its story, `Erin Brockovich' breaks little new ground. Essentially, it joins the ranks of earlier films such as `Silkwood,' `The Insider,' `A Civil Action,' `The Rainmaker,' among others, each of which tells the tale of a common `David' (be it in the form of a whistleblowing employee or compassionate, righteous lawyer) who, against all odds, mounts a seemingly quixotic crusade against a corporate Goliath. All the above five films expose the shoddy and often malevolent business practices of companies that have resulted in major health care crises for both their own employees as well as the residents who live near the companies' facilities. In the case of `Erin Brockovich,' the villain is the PG&E electrical plant located in the desert community of Hinckley, near Barstow, California. It seems that the residents of this small town have been experiencing a mind-bogglingly high number of serious illnesses and miscarriages that PG&E has assured them are not in any way related to the activities at their site. The company has even brought in medical professionals and toxicologists to assuage the residents' growing fears. Almost by chance, Erin Brockovich stumbles onto this information and takes up the challenge of fighting for the rights of these victims and exposing PG&E's gross malfeasance in the process.

Looking at its bare-boned plotting, one must concede that there really isn't much that is new here. However, thanks to a pair of utterly smashing performances by Julia Roberts and Albert Finney and a beautifully well-rounded portrait of a real-life heroine, this Steven Soderbergh film emerges as a true crowd-pleasing triumph. This may, in fact, be not only Roberts' best performance, but her finest role as well. Erin is not a conventional do-gooder heroine. First of all, she is often abrasive and off-putting in her demeanor. Dressed more like a fashion devotee of Roberts' `Pretty Woman' call girl character than a serious legal executive, Erin often launches into unrestrained, obscenity-laced tirades at her boss, her loving boyfriend, even the corporate lawyer bigwigs sent to help her when the case she is making comes close to completion. Yet, it is just this no-nonsense directness that earns her the confidence of the people she is trying so desperately to help. A twice-divorced mother of three, she is as passionate in the defense of her own children as she is in the defense of her case. Yet, she is a woman made up of any number of internal contradictions. Much as she loves her children, she has made a shambles of her life in recent years. Rootless and lacking the skills necessary to procure a well-paying job, she practically has to beg to get hired in the office of a lawyer who has failed to win her a settlement in a traffic accident case. Staunchly individualistic, she refuses to tone down her rhetoric or her temper – or to adopt the more `professional' attire of the business world – even if it might mean that she would be taken more seriously by those around her. She assumes that no man would be willing to consider having a serious relationship with her because of her children and marital track record, yet, when a man enters her life doing just that, her insecurities and her intense commitment to the cause for which she is fighting begin to drive him away – and her children as well. Most fascinatingly, perhaps, we are led to wonder whether it is really the suffering people who motivate her obsessive commitment or rather, as she herself admits, the personal recognition she receives now when she walks into a room and people clamor desperately to know what she thinks on an issue. All credit to Susannah Grant for writing a character so full of believable paradoxes. Obnoxious as Erin is at times, her innate vitality, wisdom and warm-hearted compassion consistently shine forth. Grant, by making her such a three-dimensional figure, mitigates much of the incredibility that lies at the root of this story, true though it may be.

And, given this juicy role, Roberts is nothing short of a revelation. She conveys each conflicting mood and character trait perfectly. Never before has this actress brought such a breezy assurance to her every action and statement. She literally holds this rich film together, forcing us to focus intently on the storm of emotions taking place deep inside this complex woman. This is definitely Oscar-caliber work. Equally brilliant is Albert Finney as Ed Masry, the lawyer for whom Erin works, a jovial, easygoing man who watches with a bemused appreciation as Erin hurls colorful invective at him, rages against the system and dresses down with withering sarcasm not only the legal representatives from PG&E but the seasoned lawyers Masry himself has hired to help bring home the case. One of Erin's most endearing traits is that she is an equal opportunity harridan – a fact that wins Masry over every bit as much as it does us.

If `Erin Brockovich' has a weakness, it comes in the form of Erin's romantic relationship with the unemployed motorcycle rider next door. He seems simply too good to be true, and, although we know that it is necessary to fill in this particular part of Erin's life to make her portrait a well-rounded and complete one, it is still the least interesting and believable part of the tale. We feel we are being too often distracted from the meaty center of the story.

Still, this is a minor quibble about a film that works so beautifully on so many levels. As Erin Brockovich, Julia Roberts has finally found the role uniquely suited to her enormous talents and she blazes forth more brightly than she has ever done before. I, for one, will be roundly rooting for her come Oscar night.

Out of work, out of hope, trashy, twice divorced single mother Erin fails to get another job due to her lack of experience. On her way home she is hit by another car. She goes to lawyer Ed Masry who spectacularly fails to win her any damages. Erin demands he gives her a job and he begrudgingly does. Doing some of his pro-bono work, Erin uncovers evidence that suggests that manufacturing firm PG&E had poisoned the local water supply and lie to residents about the content. As she looks deeper she finds a legacy of illness and a small bit of research turns into a mammoth case.

I don't know how much of this drama is factual and how much of it is changed to add to dramatic effect but regardless the story is involving, funny and moving. At the time there was a rash of 'environmental damage' legal films of which this is one of the more polished and classy. The film focuses as much on Erin as it does on the case and at times it risked failing as a legal drama/thriller. However it still grips as the facts pretty much speak for themselves – the film adds to this by creating a real sense of PG&E as a monster without scruples or concern for the residents. As a result the events feel more powerful and involving. It feels slow at times, but if you're into it then it feels patient rather than slow and deliberate rather than laboured.

The biggest reason that the focus on Erin works is because Roberts really does very well giving her Erin a down to earth, trashy feel that could have been hammy or unbelievable (she is a multimillion pound actress after all), but it wasn't. Instead it was realistic and quite warm – where she could have been annoying. The grumpy Finney is also good value and seems natural in the role. Eckhart is almost too good to be true but gives a likable performance and is a winning non-distraction.

The film benefits from the style that Soderbergh brings to it. It glides with the grace that he brought to Ocean's 11 and has the rich colouring that parts of Traffic had. His direction really adds to the film and makes the sum feel a little greater that the parts put together.

Overall this may not be the legal thriller that you hoped for and it may move a great deal slower that I thought a Hollywood film would, but it is worth it. The film is patient and worth baring with and Roberts is actually pretty good in the lead! Enjoyable.

Steven Soderbergh's Erin Brockovich opens with a car accident. The vehicle driven by Erin, an unemployed, twice-divorced mother of three, is broadsided by a speeding car at an intersection. She takes her case to a rumpled, cowed lawyer Ed Masry, who agrees to represent her on a contingency basis. However, in court, Erin's surly manner and blasphemous vocabulary do not endear her to the jury, which finds itself in the defendant's favor, as Erin goes home empty-handed. Still without work and needing to pay her bills, Erin, who has no demonstrable skills, but a passion, an uncommon quantity of common sense, and a defiant way of talking, finagles her way into a position as a file clerk under her former attorney.

It is in this capacity that she uncovers, entirely by accident, a paper trail leading to the town of Hinkley, CA, where an endless stream of residents have been diagnosed with various medical conditions including cancer, disintegrating spinal cords and brain damage. It turns out that the community of Hinkley has been poisoned by hexavalent chromium, leaching into the drinking water from the Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) plant. The case is especially odious because PG&E knew exactly what it was doing but lied about what kind of chromium it was using. Erin gains the trust of the community to mount legal action and strong-arms Ed to put together a case that would win the largest direct claim settlement in American history, even as her personal life is threatened by her devotion to the case.

Steven Soderbergh tests Erin's limits of likability numerous times throughout the movie. An early scene is designed to show what a short fuse Erin has when she explodes in a torrent of profanity in the courtroom. Erin, the film makes clear early on, is no sentimental crusader. Rather, she is a tough, hard-nosed cookie who dresses like a hoochie and who would use anything from here heavily coiffured hair to her cleavage or also her baby to get what she needs. In short, Erin is adrift in a hard world. But what makes this potentially despicable character so affable is Julia Roberts' vulnerable and fiercely dynamic performance. As the eponymous character, she is undoubtedly the heart and soul of the film. As a foil for Erin, Albert Finney draws out a complex, engaging performance that is as warm as it is funny. Their scenes together crackle with chemistry and it's a joy to see this kind of male/female interaction where there is absolutely no hint of sexual attraction.

Soderbergh infuses the proceedings with a vibrant, almost peppy sense of style that would not have been half as compelling had a less edgy director helmed it. It would have been easy for him to have allowed Erin Brockovich to descend into manipulative melodrama, but he resists that path of least resistance, instead giving us a film that is smart, savvy, funny, and, at times, poignant.