Erin Brockovich DVD > Reviews > THIS OTHER KIND OF AMERICAN DREAM

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Indifferent to it
Story	Outstanding
Characters / Performances	Unmemorable
Special Effects	Standard
How does it compare to similar films?	Satisfactory

Advantages:	good story  -  and true to boot; ocassionally funny; occasionally poignant
Disadvantages:	not very exciting and should be, Julia Roberts overdrive, cliche after cliche

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

As a new owner of a PC equipped with a DVD drive, I have started to watch films at home again. I have a massive backlog, as going to cinema has been a rare experience since my daughter was born.

Few days ago, as a part of backlog-clearing exercise, I subjected myself to watching Erin Brockovich. It is a drama, made in 2000 by Steven Soderbergh, who shot up to fame with overhyped triteness of 'Sex, Lies and Videotapes' and whose filmography includes amongst others 'Solaris', "Traffic', and 'Ocean's Eleven'. It stars Julia Roberts and Albert Finney.

The film is based on a true story. I could probably safely assume that anybody reading this review with an intention to buy or rent the DVD is question would be at least vaguely familiar with the plot, including the outcome. But in the seemingly unbreakable convention of film reviews, I have to start with a plot-teaser.

STORY

Erin Brockovich is a single, unemployed, unqualified mother of three kids, who, due obviously to the total inadequacy of the American welfare system, faces destitution and humiliation (including the need to steal medicines for her children from the pharmacy). She manages to bully her way to a job of filing clerk with a lawyer's firm belonging to Ed Masry. During her filing she encounters a pro-bono file, which catches her eye. She investigates a bit more, on paper and than on location, and discovers a truly horrific case of a corporate behemoth - a utility company PG&E - which has been systematically polluting the water supply in the town of Hinkley, while blatantly lying to the residents about it. Meanwhile the population of Hinkley has been slowly but surely dying out from a plethora of chromium-poisoning related causes, including cancers, miscarriages and numerous other complaints. Erin is instrumental in gathering the evidence and then persuading Ed Masry to take the case on. The rest of the film shows her relentless drive in building and then fighting the Hinkley versus PG&E case. I will leave it here for those of you who managed to miss all the publicity and just say, it is true story and a brilliant one at that, an archetypal case of the underdog taking on the mighty; it's the other face of the American dream where one good person, often an unlikely candidate, fights the injustice threatening to overwhelm the community. Like in westerns, really, although Erin stops short of swaggering about with two Colt revolvers.

It is not a Cinderella story, by any means: at the end of the film Erin still dresses like a whore, swears like a trooper and there is no sign of her obtaining a trophy husband. You couldn't get further away from the Pretty Woman and it has to be A Good Thing...

CHARACTERS AND CASTING

The whole film, however, is more of a portrait of Erin Brockovich then the account of the Hinkley case. She is sassy, brassy, feisty, big-mouthed but with a heart of gold. She dresses as a trailer-trash whore (no, really, she does) and she refuses to change when a fashion re-haul is suggested. The message is clear - she won't be judged on her looks, she will be judged on who she really is. Despite two failed marriages, three kids and a total lack of qualifications or measurable skills she has not lost her faith in herself, she has confidence and assertiveness and numerous times wins one over the stuffy corporate lawyers in sharp suits. You see, Erin has not been to the law school, but she is great with people, she has masses of drive, energy and the right kind of attitude. Overall, her character is pretty one-dimensional. Despite her own declarations to the contrary, she never seems to have any doubts about herself. There is a minor conflict regarding the person of the biker neighbour, who, initially just baby-sitting, ends up eventually in Erin's bed and who feels justifiably neglected when she starts to work longer and longer hours as the case develops. As the result she misses her baby-daughter’s first word… But her commitment to the people of Hinkley (and her own newly found feeling of being respected and important) is unshaken.

Julia Roberts, despite remaining her pouting, frizzy-haired, doe-eyed, annoying self, is cast very well in the part of Erin. The limited range of emotions, pushy and wide-sweeping gestures and reliance on swearing as the main means of conveying Erin's salt-of-the-earthness suits Julia Roberts and although I wouldn't call it an Oscar-worthy performance (The Academy must really want to give her one for some inexplicable reason as she actually won one!), she does OK. On seeing the real Erin (who, by the way, has a cameo part in the movie) the fit of the casting is particularly noticeable, despite Roberts being substantially more attractive than Erin.

Erin's main counterpart is Ed Masry, played well if safely by Albert Finney. He is a hardworking, well-meaning small-firm lawyer, a li'l bit cynical but still in possession of this article, ubiquitous anywhere near Julia Roberts: the heart of gold. He gets persuaded to risk his personal wealth and the future of the law firm and takes the Hinkley case on, undoubtedly led on mostly by his outraged conscience, but aided on his quest by the perspective of bagging 40% of any monies awarded to the victims. Finney’s character is also rather one-dimensional and he sometimes does seem embarrassed to say his lines. I was wondering if this was the effect desired by the director, or was it an accident or perhaps I just imagined it…

Interaction of these two constitutes one of the main dynamics of the movie and is actually quite entertaining (weirdly enough, not a single suspicion of sexual attraction on the side of Mr Masry is raised, even though Erin uses her looks to a great advantage with other male characters). Erin defies Ed’s classifications and earns his respect, first given grudgingly and later on enthusiastically. The final proof of Mr Masry’s respect and recognition of Erin's part in the case is <toot-toot, a little plot spoiler coming> of course, as it has to be in a story emblematic for the Land of Mammon, in her bonus cheque, in which Ed’s appreciation takes on the form of a nice seven-figure sum.

Other characters are fairly schematic (not that Erin and Ed weren't). The big corporate lawyers are all lizardy, bolshy and snobby. The Hinkley people are portrayed in a series of small vignettes rather than en masse and are portrayed sympathetically; but without undue (or due, come to think of it) sentimentalism. They are dignified and contained in their suffering and anger. It is a good picture, but also, I cannot help thinking, bit simple. There is a glimpse of how rich a portrayal it could be in a scene where the Hinkley people, gathered for a meeting with their lawyers; start to squabble and argue about who suffered more and how the money still not awarded should be divided.

VERDICT

I guess we are getting near my main problem with Erin Brockovich: I would have liked to see a film about the case, the story of Hinkley so to speak. Somehow, despite the movie's title, the publicity and the face of Julia Roberts staring from many a poster at the time of the film's release, I managed to maintain that expectation and was disappointed when I discovered that the film was just what it said on the box: the story of Erin. And despite the good fit between the character and the actress and despite the inherent attractiveness of the story itself, I didn't like Erin. She seemed downright rude most of the time, I also found it extremely unlikely that a person portrayed as having such a temper and flaring up with a stream of profanities on the slightest provocation (and without) from everybody would hardly ever as much as raise her voiced against her children.

I also didn't like the way I was supposed to like her from the start, before she showed her real qualities, just on the basis of saying ‘fuck‘ a lot and having three kids and no means of support.

I didn't like the constant equation of lack of education, profanity-loaded language, trashy clothes and poverty with being somehow automatically on the side of the angels. It seemed to perpetrate the same kind of stereotype Erin was fighting, just from the other side.

I didn't like the fact that the film missed almost all of the court action, including the final verdict. In such stories I expect the big triumph, and here I was denied it. I didn't like the way Erin's total commitment to the case to the exclusion of her family was portrayed as something almost unqualifyingly positive.

I didn't like the way the extortionate 40% taken in lawyers’ fees was glossed on (no, in fact, it was positively justified).

Why three stars, then? Well, it wasn't a bad film, it just was worse than I thought it would be. Although never exactly gripping, it wasn't boring, it provided reasonable evening's entertainment without being particularly diverting, the story was good and worth knowing.

The casting of the two main actors was very good, especially Julia Roberts.

It had one moment of cinematic magic, which earns it an extra half star: the case is to be passed on to Big Lawyers. The Big Lawyers take the case notes, denigrate Erin's effort and try to doubt her knowledge of the case. As an example of the missing bits of information that would have to be amended, the lack of telephone numbers on the individual files is given. I reply, Erin, roused by the righteous indignation, stands up, fires up and, for randomly selected name, one of over 600; recites the lot: the phone number, the address, the medical history. The viewers’ disbelief is suspended. The idea that maybe somebody else except Erin might to want to use the file doesn't even cross our mind. We are enthralled. Triumphal Julia/Erin rules that moment. Sadly, that does not stretch to the rest of the movie.

Overall, it's a nice, quite small (despite its provenance) feelgood movie that would be probably best suited to female audience of pre-retirement age (I mean 13-59 age bracket) but can be also enjoyed by many men, especially ones not limiting their viewing to action/thrillers. Hardly taxing, obviously.

I cannot comment on the soundtrack as I simply didn't notice it. I am not a musical animal and it has to be very memorable to barely register at all.

DVD SPECIFICS

I watched it on a 17’’ computer monitor and the picture and sound quality seemed perfectly acceptable as far as my requirements go, but then I am not very discerning viewer, and of course I cannot vouch for quality on home-cinema big screen or even a normal 21'' or bigger television.

I am rarely interested in extras, as far as I am concerned each DVD could be just like a VHS video: film is a film is a film. For the purpose of this review, I made a note of them though and even sampled one or two:

*The usual ‘Making of’ featurette which I simply couldn't be bothered to watch as I had enough of EB after the film.

*Short interviews with real Erin brockovich and Ed Masry which bring nothing new to the story, but confirm the great casting decisions.

* Deleted scenes on its own, and, additionally, and to complete the overload, deleted scenes with the directors commentary. I watched several, and most of them seemed fairly trite and definitely better out of the movie than in. The director's commentary was quite interesting as he justified removal of each of the scenes very thoroughly, and the feeling that the film was well thought out and not put together in a half-random way was indeed present throughout the movie. One of the deleted scenes (Erin having to steal medicine for her baby from a pharmacy) just made me think again about the richest state on earth which doesn't even provide medial care and prescriptions for its poor children…

BORING BITS

I rented it from Blockbusters as a part of 'three for a fiver' 7-day deal.

The DVD is available from Amazon for 7.97GBP, and can be had second hand for less than a fiver. .
It's certifacate 15, which must be due to the number of times ERin says 'fuck' as otherwise there is nothing in the film that would be remotely offensive or disturbing for an older teenager.

The runnig time is 125 minutes.

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Thanks for reading. It is my first film review ever, so any feedback is very very welcome.