Hard to recommend...

Rating: 6/10 (8 January 2001)

I think Steven Soderbergh has grown to be a very great director, one of the best living Americans in the business. I loved Out of Sight, and The Limey was really great, too. Traffic was also quite good. Now, only a couple of nights after seeing Traffic in the theater, I got to watch Erin Brockovich. Unfortunately, it was not great. I didn't really expect all that much while watching. I had heard from numerous people that Soderbergh did it just so he could make movies that he preferred to make. I don't think that that attitude is bad. If a good director has to sell out a little in order to make a great film, I say go ahead.
Now Erin Brockovich isn't anywhere near a complete failure. There's a lot to like about the film. Its main problem is its extremely formulaic story (I thought Traffic had a formulaic story, too, but not on this level). Also, the fact that the action becomes repetitive is no help. At first, Brockovich's shtick (i.e., someone p***es her off (when it shouldn't, usually), so she becomes so angry at them that they eventually back off; this happens again and again and again in the film) is entertaining, albeit, not very believable (I did not feel too sorry when she is fired), but after the fifth time, the act becomes frustrating. This is especially true with the final scene, where Brockovich gets paid for a job well done. Tell me that you didn't see the joke coming from the second Albert Finney enters the room.
So let us talk about acting. First, Aaron Eckhart's gentle Harley dude: I like Eckhart in Neal LaBute's films, In the Company of Men and Your Friends and Neighbors, but I don't know if he works here. Maybe it's not him in particular, but the script. His character is kind of boring. He's not well developed, and he is never interesting. In fact, I think Brockovich's whole domestic situation gets kind of boring as the narrative moves more towards the lawsuit (it begins quite compellingly). The scenes with Eckhart and the Brockovich children are almost all very cliche. None ring true, at least for me. The meet-cute between Brockovich and George (Eckhart) is quite irritating.
Albert Finney: he is quite good in a pretty poorly written role. His character is not complex, but Finney manages to bring energy into the role. I liked him, and if this film is considered for some Oscars, which I doubt it will receive (except for maybe Roberts' role), Finney probably deserves a nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
Now for Julia Roberts. To speak the truth, I think Pretty Woman is the only other movie I've ever seen her in. I try to avoid her movies. She is so unbelievably beautiful that it is difficult to take her acting seriously at times. And herein lies the difficulty of my rating her performance. I could never take my eyes off of her (and it was not her breasts at all, as others have claimed that they were a great distraction, but rather her face, her lips, her eyes especially). I think Roberts did a pretty good job in the quieter moments of the film. The best scene of the film is when George tells Erin about her youngest child's first words, spoken while she was working. There, I can see that Roberts can act. Also, when she is lying to her children about having eaten near the beginning of the film. She's quite good there, too. And there are plenty of very good scenes where Brockovich forms relationships with her clients, and this becomes quite touching. The problem elsewhere is that Brockovich is written over the top. First off, she is written as if she were a Saint, or at least a Pope, since she seems to be infallible. We as the audience are lead to identify with her at every point, even when she is obviously being rude or cruel for no reason, or just when she behaves stupidly. This is being too kind to Erin Brockovich as a real person, and thus it becomes difficult to take her character or the film seriously. When she would flip out, I would begin to hate her. Her attitude ceases being funny very quickly and just becomes tiring. But I say, although my own heart is with Bjork (Dancer in the Dark), just give Roberts the Best Actress Oscar. Then she will have won one, and she won't have to do serious movies anymore. This film was, after all, produced basically to get Julia Roberts and Oscar.
Soderbergh does three things worth note in this Hollywood: he uses plenty of jump cuts, by which an American audience would normally be disturbed. They are mild, and perhaps they serve to teach the regular moviegoing population about their purpose. Also, it is filmed entirely with a handheld camera. This is good for the same reason that jump cuts are good. And, most thankfully, the musical score is very underplayed, which is rare in dramas nowadays. There is a very good scene near the end when Brockovich tells a sick woman how much money she has won in the lawsuit. Usually, this scene would have been overwhelmed with musical score. But here, there is no music. That is wonderful. It is not missed at all. The only thing we have to suffer through is a terrible Cheryl Crow pop song attached to the end credits, almost certainly shoved in by execs.
This film I give a 6/10. Decent, though it could have been more. It did not offend my sensibilities for the most part.