A little more boring than I expected

Rating: Null/10 (9 May 2004)

2 1/2 Stars (out of 4):
This film was greeted with a lot of acclaim and it was even nominated for an oscar, but I personally found it a little slow and boring. Julia Roberts' role as Erin Brockovitch, a poor but assertive single mom, earned her an oscar and I don't disagree that Roberts did a really good job. Based on a true story, Roberts plays the character with unusually dark notes in her crusade to win a lawsuit for a town who's suffered the side effects of pollution. However, Julia's frustration and anger at everyone else in the world for all her stress, got too repetitive for me. The element that kept the movie from not boring me out completely, aside from Erin Brockovitch's aggressiveness, was her relationship with eventual boss Ed (Albert Finney). Initially, Ed is a lawyer who fails Brockovitch and enraged at being screwed over she forces him to give her a job there, so she can earn the money he owes. He reluctantly agrees, partly because of a thin layer of compassion under his inhumane lawyer mentality, and the working relationship between the two is very interesting and warm. In short, as a star vehicle for Julia Roberts to do something serious, yes, this works, but as a movie itself, only partially.