Q:Build a movie plot around this: How many children does Erin Brockivich have? Three
A:
Desperate for work, unskilled Erin Brockovich (Julia Roberts), single parent of three, takes a relatively inconsequential job as a legal assistant in a California law firm for low wages. While organizing some paperwork pertaining to real estate cases, she is puzzled when she notices medical records in one of the files. On a whim, she does a little investigating of her own, and comes to suspect that land purchased by Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E;) is the same land on which chromium contamination resulted from PG&E;'s environmentally irresponsible actions.Examination of local water records and interviews with residents ill from exposure to poisonous chromium confirm Erin's suspicions, but pursuit of legal proceedings against PG&E; would seem beyond the capabilities of the small law firm she works at. Still, Erin succeeds in making her boss, Ed Masry (Albert Finney), as passionate about the case as she is, and he takes it on. Both Ed and Erin must make great sacrifices in their lives, as the legal costs spread Ed very thin, and the round-the-clock work takes Erin out of touch with both her boyfriend and her kids.Erin's kids resent the lack of attention from her, and her attempts to explain the merits of what she is doing to her eldest son are futile ..... but, one day her eldest son happens across one of the many documents pertaining to the PG&E; case. He reads of a child his own age who is very ill, and knowing that Erin's work will help this child, asks her why the child's mother cannot provide the needed help. When Erin explains that it is because the child's mother is very ill, too, her son, for the first time, appreciates the nature and importance of Erin's work.In the end, Erin's special ability to bond with the victims of chromium contaminaton and their families and Ed's legal and administrative prowess are the key ingredients to making the case against PG&E.; As a team, they manage to successfully lay the groundwork for the payment of legal damages by PG&E; to those harmed.