Steven Soderbergh's two films last year,
Traffic and
Erin Brockovich, are both up for Best Picture at this year's Academy Awards ceremony. Although I think
Gladiator will take home the Oscar, that doesn't mean that
Erin Brockovich should be ignored.
Based on a true story, Erin Brockovich (Julia Roberts) is a single, unemployed, and twice-divorced mom of three. When things couldn't get any worse, she gets in a car accident that seriously injures her. She goes to court, with her lawyer being Ed Masry (Albert Finney), and she loses. Since she is deeply in debt, she goes to Ed's firm and demands a job. Ed ends up giving her a job as a file clerk.
While she was looking at a real estate case, she finds medical records. She becomes suspicious and decides to investigate the case on her own. It turns out that a $28 billion dollar power company has been
poisoning people's water that live around the plant. With no legal education but with a strong will, she files a case against the power company for the people that have gotten sick because of the poison.
What makes this film special is Soderbergh's direction and the performances by Roberts and Finney. Without those things,
Erin Brockovich probably wouldn't be nearly as good. Soderbergh's direction is superb, the film keeps a good pace, and never gets too boring. Robert's performance was very good, and she deserved the Oscar nod. Finney also got a well-deserved Oscar nod, but he probably will lose to Benicio
Del Toro (The
Hunted).
The only thing that's probably keeping Erin Brockovich from getting four stars is the chemistry between Erin and her boyfriend, George (Aaron Eckhart). Actually, there's virtually no chemistry between them. Aaron Eckhart did do a good performance, but between Erin and him, there was just no real love connection.
Erin Brockovich is a very good movie, and is not just some "chick flick". It has some funny moments, and it contains a lot of good drama. It might not win Best Picture, but it deserves to be seen.
