LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Erin Brockovich
built 179 days ago
With no money, no job and no prospects on the horizon, Erin Brockovich (Roberts) is a woman in a tight spot. Following a car accident in which Erin is not at fault, she finds herself even worse off when her attorney fails to land her any kind of settlement. With nowhere else to turn, Erin pleads with her attorney Ed Masry (Albert Finney) to hire her at his law firm. It is there, while working, that Erin stumbles upon some medical records placed in real estate files. Confused, she begins to question the connection. She convinces Ed to allow her to investigate, where she discovers a cover-up involving contaminated water in a local community which is causing devastating illnesses among its residents.
Source:
At its heart, Erin Brockovich is about the Pacific Gas & Electric Company's callous mistreatment of over six hundred people in the small and remote Southern California town of Hinkley. Beginning in the 1960s, the $28 billion utility company began poisoning the groundwater from which many of the town's people drew their drinking water. The poison was hexavalent chromium, a chemical particularly unfriendly to human beings. Among other things, it is known to cause liver failure, organ destruction and numerous kinds of cancer. Knowing what it had done, P.G. & E. went to elaborate lengths to engage in a cover-up to avoid legal liability for the physical disabilities and deaths the poisoning caused adults and children alike.
Source:
"Erin Brockovich" has the built-in appeal of seeing the little guys sticking it to a corporation. And yet there isn't a scene that feels predictable. Grant's script contains exactly one courtroom scene. The story of the lawsuit is told in the most personal way: through the expectations of the people who have staked their hopes on it and through the fears of Erin and Ed, who stand to lose everything if they fail. Grant ("Ever After") writes precise dialogue that doesn't sacrifice the give-and-take of real people speaking to each other. With the exception of one sappy moment between Erin and her young son when the movie goes soft, each scene advances the story without talking down to the audience by spelling things out.
Source:
Erin Brockovich, which was written by Susannah Grant (Ever After) and Richard LaGravenese (The Horse Whisperer) stars Julia Roberts in the true story of a twice-divorced mother of three young children, who struggles to be taken seriously. While working as a file clerk in a small law firm, she stumbles upon a cover-up involving contaminated water in a nearby town which is causing devastating illnesses. Through sheer determination, she convinces her boss (Finney) to allow her to investigate, and in the process uncovers the company causing the contamination. Although the local citizens are initially leery of becoming involved, Erin's brash manner and ability to speak to them clearly-and frankly-earns their trust. With over 600 plaintiffs signed up, the unlikely duo go on to win the largest settlement ever paid in a direct-action suit...$333 million.
Source:
Erin Brockovich is truly a triumph for Roberts. She's tried dramas before, notably Michael Collins and Mary Reilly (not to mention her early, Oscar-nominated role in Steel Magnolias). But Soderbergh is the first director to marry the indomitably sunny disposition, megawatt smile, and perfect timing that have served her so well in romantic comedies to a deeper well of emotion. The result is a vivid performance that jumps off the screen. With her Frederick's of Hollywood wardrobe and larger-than-life hair, it would be easy for this character to slide into caricature, but, to Roberts' credit, she keeps Erin real. Add to that the easy chemistry she shares with both Finney and Eckhart and Erin Brockovich becomes a rare thing indeed: a truly feel-good movie.
Source:
Erin Brockovich's latest crusade, against several oil companies and the city and school district of Beverly Hills, California, is as misguided as the one chronicled in the movie that made her famous. With Ed Masry, head of the law firm in which she serves as research director, Brockovich charges that fumes from active oil wells under the campus of Beverly Hills High School have caused inordinate levels of cancer and other disorders among the school's graduates. In June, the firm brought suit on behalf of 21 of those graduates against the oil companies that have, in succession, owned and operated the wells since the 1970s. Last week they ... announced legal action against the city and the school district. Suits are still pending on behalf of additional graduates with different kinds of cancers and other ailments. Though there's no evidence the oil wells have caused the problems Brockovich claims, her track record shows she just might triumph in Beverly Hills.�
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Erin Brockovich