Erin Brockovich: When Self-Preservation Leads to Passion

Rating: 10/10 (4 June 2016)

What happens when you mix a struggling, single mother of three, an accident, and a lawyer together? Well, you get Erin Brockovich. A film written by Susannah Grant and directed by Steven Soderbergh, this is an Oscar-winning biographical drama that is based on a portion of the life of Erin Brockovich, a woman that has dealt with unemployment, poverty, and just plain bad luck. Erin lives in Hinkley, California, a small town located between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, Nevada. That is where she and her three children live on the fringes of poverty in a small house located in a suburban neighborhood. To exacerbate an already unfortunate situation, one day, after Erin leaves an unsuccessful job interview, she gets into an accident, suffering damages to herself as well as her car. To add to her frustrations, her appointed lawyer, Ed Masry, is unsuccessful in winning her settlement case. After a heated confrontation with Mr. Masry in his office, Erin comes out of there with a job as a legal clerk for Mr. Masry. Her employment under Mr. Masry eventually leads her on a unwitting path to fight for justice against PG&E, an electric/utility giant. In the film, Brockovich is tasked by Mr. Masry to look into a case where the plaintiffs were suing PG&E for damages due to groundwater contamination caused by dumping waste-water which contaminated neighboring water supplies. As the film progresses, more and more victims of PG&E's contamination come forward and join Brockovich to fight against the giant. Although this film is a biographical drama, I would also suggest to Mr. Soderbergh that this is one of the best documentaries I've seen. You may ask: "What are you talking about? This isn't a documentary! This isn't even close to a documentary." Well, I'll have to stop you there. Although the film is captured in a dramatic way, the focus of the movie is not the drama, rather, the events. The film detailed the conditions that not only the protagonist, Brockovich was faced with, but those affected by PG&E, as well. Erin Brockovich was able to create a more powerful message that not only addressed environmental awareness but also corporate greed. One thing I liked about the film was that it wasn't littered with special effects or over-the-top dramatic music. Films that are considered documentaries nowadays are usually chalk-full of propagandic editing and loaded questions. This is especially prevalent in environmental documentaries. This type of documentary usually leads viewers to one conclusion: that corporations are bad, and the environment is dying. Overflowing with dramatic music and cut-offs, those kinds of films, to me, should be considered dramas, not Erin Brockovich. Erin Brockovich is able to make viewers aware of those issues, and more. Grant and Soderbergh immerse the viewer into the movie by giving a context for which many viewers can connect to or sympathize with: a single mom that has nothing but a few dollars, 3 mouths to feed, and a wild personality. She is split into many directions, and her personality is what gets her into as well as out of sticky situations. By introducing us to Erin, a mother, a foundation for connections are established with the viewer. They also introduce realistic conflict into the movie. In addition to her struggles for employment, Soderbergh includes a romantic relationship that the real Brockovich had with a neighbor, named George. Even after she eventually pulls her and her family out of near destitution, she is faced with the task of balancing her passion for her work with time spent with her family and George. Chasing her work would mean putting everything else on the sidelines. Spending time with family would mean that precious time would be lost in the fight against PG&E. Even as she works to repair her relationship with George and her kids, Erin has created a connection to those that were affected by the groundwater contamination. The issue then is where to focus her humanity. Should she sacrifice her family's happiness, potentially ruining her relationship with her kids for good, so that she is able to attempt to save or at least ameliorate the hundreds of lives that have been affected by PG&E? By introducing these aspects, Soderbergh gives a more realistic view of our society as humans, rather than the clips of starving African children you see in every other documentary. I think the addition of these elements keep the viewer more glued to their screens compared to typical documentaries, which try way too hard to grab your attention. Erin Brockovich, aside from the comparisons, is an excellent standalone film. Its unique story line/situation makes the film memorable. Its inclusion of the real Erin Brockovich in the beginning gives the viewer an impression of what the real deal was like, and what the dress, mannerisms, and vulgar language amalgamate into. His seemingly accurate portrayal of Brockovich greatly contributed to the film's intensity as a biography. Soderbergh's film, to me, is a 5-star (10/10) movie. It's incorporation of realness is what clinches the 5th star. Erin's situation was a very unique and rare occurrence. Her strife to survive in life led to successes and failures. Her fortunate chance to work in Ed Masry's office established a previously unknown passion about something that may have never crossed her mind: the environment. It is through random luck that history is made. History is not a set prophecy. Story lines are constantly being created, however, many go unacknowledged. Erin Brockovich created that story, and Soderbergh acknowledged it.