Great lady, great story, great actress

Rating: Null/10 (10 November 2000)

This is a fine movie based on the true story of a remarkable woman. She's not a crusader. In fact, at the opening of the story she can't even get a job. Through an accident, in which her car was hit by one that ran a red light, she goes after justice. Her own legal problems get her involved with a law firm run by Albert Finney, a great foil for this aggressive and independent lady. In his office, she stumbles upon evidence of a massive injustice committed by a utility company, and works alone to uncover the enormity of the crime. She discovers that in the town near the company's plant, people have grown sick  in some cases fatally  through the utility's criminal disposal of a carcinogen, contaminating their water. She learns the legal processes by which the sufferers can be compensated. By sheer willpower and persistence, she collects the affidavits needed to launch a class-action lawsuit. A `David and Goliath' parallel is pointed out in the dialog. As she learns, we learn. If this sounds academic, it emphatically is not. Erin, as splendidly played by Julia Roberts, is a dynamic personality, and the film is a detective story with suspense, excitement and humor. In fact, after tossing off a wisecrack about having used `sexual favors' (she didn't) to amass the hundreds of signatures needed, Julia delivers one of the funniest lines in the last five years of movies. Erin herself  now Erin Brockovich-Ellis, a popular name  appears briefly in the movie as a waitress. She also speaks as herself in one of the worthwhile DVD extras. Don't expect to find the Julia of that insipid um-er-um `Nothing Hill.' Her Erin is a wholly different woman, a heroine even greater than her own story.