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ERIN BROCKOVICH |
2000 |
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Well, here is another one of those movies that is going to make you want to run your tap water through about 16 Brita filters before you drink it. Julia Roberts stars as the film's leading lady, Erin Brockovich, in the true story of how a struggling, ex-beauty queen, single mother of three was the leading force in bringing a large chemical manufacturer to pay out the largest direct-action lawsuit settlement in U.S. history. The story is great- you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll be stunned by the language that comes out of Roberts' mouth. Director Steven Soderbergh gives the film a great, rough look that really puts you into Erin's apparently hopeless situation. I know its a little early, but I'm making three oscar nomination predictions for this one: Julia Roberts for best actress, Albert Finney (who was priceless) for best supporting actor, and the make-up crew who created Julia Robert's chest for best visual effects. Special Note: Look for the cameo by the real Erin Brockovich as the waitress taking Roberts' order in the first half hour of the film |
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5 Stars |
CDF |
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I thought that I knew everything about this film from having seen the preview, as well as Julia Roberts' endless interviews on the TV talk shows... but was I wrong! What director Steven Soderbergh has created is a serious, yet always entertaining film, about the destructiveness of environmental pollution. Julia Roberts will finally get her Oscar nomination for this one, and it's well deserved. In it she plays a real-life legal secretary, who almost single-handedly helps the people of a small California town take on, and win over $350 million from the Pacific Gas & Electric Co. that was knowingly dumping carcinogens into their groundwater. It's a long film, but it never takes the easy way out into the world of soap opera. It keeps building in suspenseful, and often comic scenes, until it explodes, and then resolves itself in a quiet almost anti-climactic way. Albert Finney who plays Erin's boss, just keeps getting better as an actor, and could give lessons in what it means to be a supporting actor. I kept trying to think of reasons not to give this film 5-stars: I couldn't! |
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5 Stars |
NJB |