Erin Brockovich 2000
I saw this one a couple of months ago and didn’t review it at the time, so this will be brief. Looking back at it the whole movie seems pretty banal: the sassy upstart paralegal that no one takes seriously, the tough guy next door who is great with kids, the hapless victims of toxic chemicals, the soulless corporate lawyers. Yeah, these are all fairly common elements, but the movie is still good.
For one thing the way it is set up makes it a good story: Julia Roberts is looking for any kind of work and has no training, but she knows she’s on to something when she comes across a family decimated by groundwater pollution. From there the movie shows how her family life deteriorates as she gets more involved in the case. Ultimately the case gets bigger than her or even her firm.
It’s good because in many ways it is a realistic portrayal of law: right and wrong are secondary to the fact that law is a business. I think they must have taken some liberties with the true facts of the case because the whole thing seemed so obvious that any lawyer would take it in a heartbeat. But I came away disappointed at the “happy” ending which left you with hundreds of people sick or dead (but with money) and a huge payoff for the lawyers, who I believe got 40% of the settlement. Just a little too realistic for me.
All the acting was good. And the story was good, albeit a little basic. I can recommend it to anyone, especially now that it’s out on video.
B+
Written: 17 Dec 2000
Owned on: Digital