Erin Brockovich DVD > Reviews > Salt and Peppa

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Outstanding
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Good
How does it compare to similar films?	Outstanding

Advantages:	Julia Roberts and Finney
Disadvantages:	few loopholes here and there

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

This movie is one of the best movies made. After wtaching it I left the theatre with a satisfied feeling in my gut. The movie is realistic yet not very cut and dried. There are some snatches of humor which makes the movie entertaining as well. The situation and the story is one of the few stories which in real life has been filed and forgotten. This stories brings out the realm of unknown for us.... in terms of certain scientific discoveries for pollution and danger...

This movie is based on a true story. Erin Brockowich got a job as a clerk for a small law firm and helped in a case where corporate injustice affected people in the prime of their lives wit fatal results. That case was the biggest lawsuit, which was made in legal history.

This movie might have been the best thing that has happened to Julia Roberts. She has given an excellent performance in this movie. Her performance is subdued yet it cannot be ignored.The movie was screened again after it won the Oscar.

The character of Erin would not have been conceived by Hollywood if it really didn’t exist. The portrayal of lady who has a foul mouth, has a bad dress sense, has three kids to support from two ex husbands, and is desperately looking for a job along with an attitude to match, is not something, which would appeal the audience. But there a strong story revolving round this character which evolves because of very personality of the character. All the traits which would be termed as negative and brash become main factors responsible for gaining a hold in her life and work.

The story starts with Erin Brockowich desperately searching for a job. She has the credit of being a beauty queen and a smart one at that. She has good computer skills but all this does not qualify her for a job. She has three kids to support, one boy and a girl and an infant of about 9 months. After getting out of one of her interviews, she is gets rammed by a fast car. This makes Erin go to a law firm headed by Ed Mastry (Albert Finney) to file a case against the rash driver. Erin loses the case due to her highly profane nature and she is left with nothing but bills and $ 71 in the bank. She is frustrated as she was expecting to win some money from the case.

Erin's search for a job starts again and finally she hounds Ed’s firm and forces him to take her up with salary and no benefits. Her way of dressing causes a stir in the company and while Erin comes forward as a no nonsense lady, she does not win any friends either in the office. While going through some files, she comes across a file, which is related to a Real Estate case of PG&E Corporation. She fids it strange that there were medical bills in the real estate case. Erin cannot connect medical bills to real estate issue. The medical bills were of some of the residents of Hinkley, California.

She starts to investigate and finds out that the residents of Hinkley, California have been poisoned with a high dose of hexavalent chromium in their water, which resulted in the illness, and death of both adults and children living in this place, from a combination of cancers including leukemia, and carcinomas of the ovaries and breasts.

Erin is appalled at the effect of the water contamination on the residents of Hinkley. She does some amateur snooping of her own by going to the County Water board and finding out documents. Here again we come across Erin who is not abashed at using her physical assets to find out what she wants. She obtains documents and incriminating paper proof against PG&E corporation.

She convinces her boss Ed that they were onto something substantial and they ought to help the people. Ed agrees but only if she brings in more proof. Erin takes this chance to ask for a raise. Gradually, Erin earns respect from her colleagues and her boss.

During the course of her job Erin meets her new neighbor George (Aaron Eckhart) who rides a Harley Davidson and is into construction work. He is at the moment not working by choice and offers Erin to help out with her kids. This results in a sub plot which somehow does not fit the original plot. The romance angle is not so well developed here.

The next step is to convince the residents concerned to stand up against this injustice. Erin is shown to be a very good communicator. She convinces the residences to stand up and claim for what they lost and are in the process of losing. She takes an inventory of all the residents and Ed comes up with a number. PG&E tries to settle for a meager $250 thousand but this is not agreed upon by Ed and Erin.Erin justifies this by saying that its a question of life and death of the person concerned.

The case with the substantial evidence is presented to the court and it is accepted. This puts PG&E in a tight position. A famous lawyer invited by Ed who has enough information about toxicology and contamination related cases takes up the case. Ed makes him a partner. This lawyer decides to file for an arbitration trial which will have no jury and it will be a direct interaction with the judge and the judge's decision will be final. This option is taken up, as a proper trial could be extended upto ten years, which would be useless.

This decision causes dissension among the residents especially when they come to know that there would be no jury. Again Erin is responsible for convincing them that this way was the best way and a sure way to get the money fast. The case is tried and they win the case with a compensation of 333 million dollars as compensation paid by PG&E Corporation.

This catapults the small law firm into popularity and great business exposure. And the firm also benefits in millions along with the residents of Hinkley, California.

This story however has few loopholes, which can be overlooked. For example, Erin has specifically $74 but she can afford to have a car, provocative outfits, etc all in one go. Then again, Erin has conveniently a neighbor who rides a Harley Davidson and works when he wants to. He is left at home caring for Erin's kids. He goes off when he is sick of being with the kids and getting nothing from Erin but reappears again when she calls him at the end of the movie. The role of this character is erratic. It was meant to support Erin's character but it was a feeble attempt.

Finney is great. Finney has been nominated four times the Oscar between 1963 and 1984 and all of the nominations have come in leading roles. He is British but he has done very well sporting an American accent and playing the character to the hilt. He supports the character of Erin well. Both Erin and Ed complement each other well.

There is a lot of humor involved in the scenes but Erin's brash attitude also hides the desperation and the desire to be a good parent to her kids, which is brought out very well by Julia Roberts.

Anyway, I liked the movie because it was devoid of melodrama and there was a fine balance of the story and emotion in the film. The whole appearance of the film was very realistic and it left me with a feeling of having watched something meaningful.

I recommend you watch this movie when you want to relax after a hard days work and you want something thoughtful to watch. It's a good movie for a rainy day. Stay away from this movie if you are looking for some entertainment and major action. This movie is simple and you have to read in between the lines a number of times. No thrills, no frills, just facts.