Erin Brockovich
Directed by Steven Soderbergh, who since this film has brought us Traffic (also nominated for best picture in 2000 so a review of that coming soon too) the Oceans trilogy, Che part one and two and Magic Mike, to name a few.
Based on a true story. Julia Roberts stars as Erin Brockovich, a twice divorced mother of 3 young children without a job and with thousands of dollars in hospital bills from a car accident she was in (not at fault but unsuccessfully sued the other driver to pay). Desperate, she persuades her lawyer to take her on as a legal assistant where she stumbles upon a cover-up involving contaminated water in a nearby town which is causing devastating illnesses.
What follows is a well paced David vs Goliath legal film.
Only the third time I’ve seen this film and it’s been over 10 years since watching last. The thing that hit me almost immediately was how good Julia Roberts is. She shines so bright that almost everyone else is left in the dark. Albert Finney, who plays her lawyer then her boss, does his best to add a touch of class where he can although can’t really keep up but at least is given some script to work with. But poor Aaron Eckhart (love interest and babysitter) could have been anyone behind the silly “biker” beard and ‘tache, he was not given a scrap of material by the writers to get his teeth into.
Soderbergh by all accounts runs a tight ship and this is no exception, it’s directed very well. There is a clever use of lighting and editing to give the film a very real feel and the scriptwriters keep the story as light and humorous as they can given the seriousness of the subject.
With Erin Brockovich, Julia Roberts became the first actress to ever earn $20 million for a movie. Universal Pictures was reluctant to pay up, but Roberts’ agent rightly and successfully argued a Hollywood double standard. It was a good job too because Roberts turns this pretty good film into a really good film. She picks it up and carries it from start to finish. It’s clear to me why she won Best Actress Oscar for the role, and in my opinion the film wouldn’t have been nominated for best picture without her.
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