smart, simple, touching and motivational

Rating: 10/10 (23 January 2006)

It's always good a little introduction about the writer to put things in perspective. I've watched about 20 movies in the last 2 years. Before that, 1 movie per week. I've missed big movies and I'm from somewhere between Generation X and Y.
Every actor plays a great role in it. I don't know much of each one past works, but even Julia Roberts seems like she is playing the first role in her career this time. Except she is now 30 and not 20 anymore.
It starts showing, quickly, how bad she was in life in that moment. Not one second she gives up, but specially in the beginning, not one second she stops smiling at life even while life throw her away to the dump. That's until she gets of a job interview, broke, with 3 kids, divorced twice and suffer a car accident. Now she can't smile that easily anymore... But, that's one thing in the movie... She doesn't know what's going to happen, but definitely never give up. And that's just the first 7 minutes.
The movie has 2 sides. At one side, there is a big case of corruption in PSE&G, the American supplier of gas and electricity. At the other side there is a bright woman, fighting to stay alive and getting life to push her in the hard way into solving that case. And she proves to be able to do the job and still keeping herself as a pretty woman, as she likes that.
Along with that, there is, in each part of the movie, smart words being used. It starts pretty fast, then it slows down a little to normal to show details about the story itself. But while it slows down, it still keeps with some details about how's a good way to live life, specially added by Charlie, who seems like an angel, plus the smart way how Erin moves her life, almost unconsciously.
--- spoiler --- While watching the movie I've cried, without knowing the reason, for the first time in my short 24 year old life. Other than that, I've only did it in funerals. It was when her child asked what was going on, why she was out of home for 18 months, and they could understand each other by using just a few words. Amazing kid.
Despite of how real the story evolving PSE&G really is the movie gives one feeling of evil company. But I rather see it the other image the movie also shows which is PSE&G just acting as a big company who has human making mistakes, blinded by money and by keeping distance from reality. There's no specific scene showing that, but the movie as a whole does.