Success story.

Rating: Null/10 (9 March 2003)

In real life ,the main character was arguably an admirable woman;in the movie,the character is given a treatment which is by no means convincing.
First of all,Julia Roberts overplays :the rest of the cast is completely wasted,and serves as a foil to her;look at paunchy aging Finney:he has become his own caricature;Peter Coyote's part is scarcely more than a walk-on and what can we say about his female counterpart,a sexually repressed(?) earnest educated woman?Roberts' long-haired partner barely dares to say a word as well.
The intentions are very dubious ;sometimes,it seems that Roberts is not at all some Florence Nightingale,but rather a go-getter who wants to do her walk of life:the last scene ,focussing on money ,is sheer bad taste .We're supposed to find her likable because she's always swearing like a trouper.But her swagger is in direct contrast to that:wherever and whenever she moves, pursuing cockroaches or meeting chic people,she seems to go out of a beauty parlor.Directing is undistinguished,recalling made-for-TV quality.
Word to the wise:(if there's any of us left)try "Silkwood " instead:Meryl Streep is a much better thespian than Roberts,and the woman she plays did not fight for money but for dear life,because,unlike Erin,she was a victim from the start.