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Reviews of Erin Brockovich
Review
by: Michael Barrett (9 April 2000) Erin Brockovich
is a movie based on real events. Julia
Roberts plays a white trash twice-divorced mother of three, who almost
single-handedly uncovers a scandal - a local company, part of a national
corporation, is knowingly polluting a nearby community’s water supply, and
infecting the inhabitants. In the
midst of all this, she has to juggle a relationship, a family, and find money to
pay the overdue bills. Erin Brockovich
is the latest film to come from Hollywood based (however loosely) on true
events. It follows in the wake of
the Oscar award winning Boys Don’t Cry, and Al Pacino vehicle The
Insider. It is also a return
for the hugely under-rated director Soderburgh, after the disappointment at the
box office of The Limey. But is it any good? Unfortunately, I would have to say no.
Although I admit that I find films based on real events annoyingly unoriginal
and uninteresting, this does not excuse the utter lack of pace or interest this
film offers us. It might well be a
story worth telling, and the scenes of the girl battling with cancer are
heart-rendering, this isn’t a film that could does it justice. One woman’s
fight against a massive corporation (worth $28 billion apparently) could well be
interesting, but this film lacks a vital flare to make it so.
If it were not for the occasional use of swearing, and star cast, it
might have been a TV movie of the week appearing late night on a channel near
you soon. And what of Julia Roberts? Although
already hotly tipped for an Oscar in 2001, I found her here offering us her
usual acting style. Yes, she might get angry a lot more than usual, and those
magnificent waggling eyebrows used more here than any film before, but as soon
as she wants to audience to like her again, she just flashes that $1 million
smile of hers, and we’re all supposed to melt in our seats. And it’s not
just her smile she flashes either. Using
the latest wonderbra technology, she displays her ample cleavage throughout,
distracting us from potentially important moments. Special praise ought to be given to Albert Finney for his
brilliant performance as Ed Masry, the lawyer that hires Brockovich in the first
place. He shows both the
seriousness and comic timing needed to lift or focus a scene – and there
isn’t even a hint of an English accent. Aaron
Eckhart is woefully underused as Brockovich’s hells-angel boyfriend from
next-door. And Soderburgh?
Well, as I have already mentioned, the film lacks pace, turning a 2 hour
movie into something that seems much, much longer.
Little does he display the genius touches that helped make such films as Sex,
Lies and Videotapes, Out Of Sight, or The Limey so enjoyable.
It might take a lot of skill to make a film with a subject matter as
serious as this riveting, but surprisingly Soderburgh doesn’t seem to possess
the abilities needed to carry this through.
Let’s just hope he was feeling a bit ‘off’ during the making of it. The ending, too, ends on a flat note,
without the explosive denouement the audience were expecting, and,
disappointingly, no mention is made of what became of Eckhart’s character.
It is no surprise, with the real Erin Brockovich having a role in the
film as a waitress, that the script is more than favourable to her character,
but a film with more pace, and less gloss might have been a lot better. My
advice? Wait until it hits a TV screen near you soon. Rating: 6 ½ out of 10
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