Erin Brockovich (2000)
Steven Soderbergh directed this dramatization of the story of an unemployed single mother (Julia Roberts) who creates a job for herself as a legal assistant at the firm of a lawyer who represented her in a failed civil suit, after a car accident. During the course of her work, she uncovers a vast, local incidence of an energy corporation’s attempt to hide its contamination of a town’s water supply – slowly poisoning its residents.
She works with the lawyer (Albert Finney) to bring a class-action against the corporation, navigating her role as a single-mother in the process. The film deftly handles the emotional struggle created when Erin finds herself torn between her responsibilities, while depicting the impact her work has on an entire community. As she inspires the stricken residents to challenge the corporation, and doggedly pursues the company for acknowledgement and compensation, Soderbergh and his cast keep the audience as emotionally invested in the outcome as the characters are. Aaron Eckhart, Marg Helgenberger and Cherry Jones also star, providing sterling support in vital roles.
Published: Feb 18, 2015 11:36 pm