Julia at the top of her game

Rating: Null/10 (27 April 2004)

ERIN BROCKOVICH (2000) ***1/2 Julia Roberts, Albert Finney, Aaron Eckhart, Marg Helgenberger, Peter Coyote, Cherry Jones, Tracy Walter.
'Norma Rae' meets 'A Civil Action' by way of 'Pretty Woman' easily could have been the pitch for this based on a true story account of a feisty former Miss Wichita runner up/twice divorced mother of three (Roberts is superb as the eponymous character in arguably her finest acting to date) who struggles to make ends meet in a rural California town and after vehemently lobbying for a job as a legal clerk (with no prior experience) she unwittingly discovers a paper trail of immense proportions involving the Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and its murky dealings with water contamination. The linear storytelling is excellent thanks largely to a smart straight ahead screenplay by Susannah Grant, a great ensemble cast including the gruff yet lovable Finney who gives a memorable performance as small-time lawyer Edward Masry whose paternal love for his plucky /sexy/tacky do-gooder is only exemplified as the case progresses to (seemingly) impossible odds in a modern day David Vs. Goliath lawsuit involving hundreds of infected people against a malevolent corporation. Roberts animates her good-hearted, tried upon heroine with finesse and much needed humor as well as her abrasive, suffer-no-fools gladly demeanor. Look sharp for the real-life Brockovich as a diner waitress with the name plate JULIA (!) Directed with on the mark helmsmanship by Steven Soderbergh.