Julia Roberts as the Archangel Gabriel

Rating: 9/10 (16 November 2010)

Strong, emotional, at times pathetic, this film will let you enjoy a real case in its Hollywood rendering. The theme is not new, especially in the US where these disputes about the pollution created by industrial businesses end up all the time in front of a judge. The active woman who is going to fight for that case has three kids, has been married twice and she got divorced twice too. She is fighting for her independence and a motivation in her life in general and professional life in particular. The case is simple: an industrial factory pollutes the soil of a whole residential zone, knows it and hides it to the residents and even lies to them. That Erin Brokovich is doing the only work that can win a case like that: she canvasses all the people who have a reason to claim some damage. She gets them all to sign the document to go in front of a judge. In spite of not liking the procedure chosen by the new experienced associate of the firm she goes along with it and even finds a direct witness of the misbehavior of the business and of its concealing methods. That witness has even stolen some documents that he was supposed to destroy. That will bring an unexpectedly high result and Erin will get a nice check in the end. But Julia Roberts is excellent because she embodies a pugnacious lady that is both stubborn and effective, charming at times and uncompromising when necessary. She manages to win the heart of her son over, though he is young, the understanding and support of her third boyfriend who is going to be the third husband one day, and of course the case more than anything else. There is no real suspense in the film but the impersonation of Erin Brokovich by Julia Roberts is the real charm of the story.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne, University Paris 8 Saint Denis, University Paris 12 Créteil, CEGID