Roberts & Finney superbly lead this true-life drama - 84%

Rating: 8/10 (7 October 2008)

If you were to ask my Better Half what her favourite type of movie is, she'd probably say "true-life movies" but personally, I have a very real problem with movies of this type. Most are made for TV and decidedly crummy, for starters, but seeing as they are also as predictable as your average Nativity play, there is no attraction in watching it in the first place unless endless stories of how odds are overcome are your thing. You'd think, therefore, that "Erin Brockovich" is not what I would consider a good movie and you'd be right. But like that other great "true-life" movie, "Alive", this is one film which has rock-solid performances from the leads and an almost documentary feel to it. But after being paid $20 million for her appearance, I'd expect nothing less from Julia Roberts.
Roberts plays our erstwhile heroine who has reached the bottom of the barrel. Struggling with her three kids and no man to help her, she even fails to win suitable compensation after being involved in a car crash. Desperate but determined, she forces herself into the employ of her lawyer Ed Masry (Albert Finney) but with her foul language and slutty clothes, she can't help but make the wrong impression. But after stumbling across what appears to be an administrative mistake, Erin's curiosity gets the better of her and she soon uncovers a huge hushed-up industrial accident by Pacific Gas & Electric which polluted the water supply of a nearby town to such a degree that it causes a variety of life-threatening conditions in the townsfolk. Enraged, Erin and Ed decide to take on the corporate giants with the help of the townspeople but sometimes, doing the right thing isn't always the easiest thing.
There can be few who'd argue that Roberts didn't deserve her Oscar - watching the extras on the DVD, you can see what a great job she did of portraying Ms Brockovich. But the actor who impressed me the most is Finney, giving the sort of performance that has me scratching my head wondering why Hollywood isn't using him more often. He is faultless and together with Roberts, they dominate the picture with the ease of two professionals at the top of their game. By contrast, Aaron Eckhart (who's no amateur either) looks flat and almost uninterested in proceedings as Erin's biker boyfriend George. And however well publicised the story has been, you still can't quite believe that it all actually happened. It did feel slightly sugar-coated at the end as I felt it didn't reflect the true outcome of the case (a quick look at the trivia section of IMDb or Wikipedia will explain all) and I also would have liked some feedback from PG&E themselves but the story won't allow it, instead permitting the sort of one-way information traffic normally the preserve of Michael Moore.
But all things considered, this is still a fine example of a true-life movie that doesn't suck. It can be easy to dismiss stuff like this as lazy movie-making that only geared towards making Oprah talk about it but that's doing "Erin Brockovich" an injustice. Brilliantly performed with enough good lines to keep most viewers interested, it's another reminder that even the loneliest individual can make the biggest impact on the lives of so many. Roberts may take the plaudits but Finney is every inch as good and if you're looking for a film with two fantastic leads then either this or "Training Day" are pretty much as good as you're going to get.