Erin Brockovich

Written by: Susannah Grant Starring: Julia Roberts, Albert Finney, Aaron Eckhart, Marg Helgenberger

In “Erin Brockovich,” Steven Soderbergh does for sexy, feisty, underestimated woman-taking-on-the-establishment pictures what he did for good-hearted crook tries-to-go-straight pictures in the terrific “Out of Sight.” That is, he puts a new spin on it, jazzes it up with some nice directorial tricks, and gets excellent performances from his very likeable stars. “Erin Brockovich” is not a great picture, but it is a very good one, engaging and entertaining, with a radiant Roberts doing a real star turn. Her performance is sincere, authentic, and not a little showy. It’s as if she realizes that, but for a few twists of fate, she could have been Brockovich (quite possible). The story is, after all, based on actual events. Erin Brockovich is an over-smart, undereducated single mother with a white trash background and no marketable skills, other than statuesque good looks and a wardrobe that is half junior-high, half Fredericks of Hollywood. Nobody (and the point is made repeatedly) takes her seriously.

But, in the tradition of film women who won’t be ignored (think “Norma Rae” and “Silkwood,” though men do this too) she finds the path to redemption by fighting to right an injustice done to others who don’t happen to have her smarts or dogged determination. Brockovich stumbles onto the criminal actions of a big utility after bullying her way into a job with local attorney Ed Masry (Finney). Getting permission (she thinks) to investigate the chromium poisoning of a small town, she uses her guile and smile (a million watt weapon if there ever was one--talk about Star Wars) to dig up the truth and--in the words of the ads--bring a giant company to its knees. This is not meant to disparage her--if the movie is at all accurate (always an open question these days, but then, this is entertainment, not journalism), Brockovich really did do the grunt work required to make the case happen, and she apparently does possess the raw talent and energy that such investigation requires. She also has a very good memory; in one set-piece scene, she humbles a cardboard corporate woman attorney (sort of the anti-Brockovich) with her encyclopedic knowledge of the thousands of tiny details of the case and its principals. Brockovich’s real talent, though, as the film has it, is her empathy.

She can really understand the lives of the small-town folks who have been devastated by the power company’s misconduct. She can, in a very overused (and ridiculed) phrase, feel their pain. Indeed, the very fact of her single motherhood and humble background is what allows her to connect with the townspeople in the first place--she is the only one who can (Masry gets better at it, but only with her coaching). They trust her, they let her into their lives, and when things seem to go bad, she is the one they turn to, and the one they would end up blaming if everything fell apart. She is really one of them, and the mere circumstances that separate her from the victims parallel those that separate star Roberts from the real-life Brockovich. The scenes in which Brockovich draws out the victims’ stories are very effective, and rather moving. Roberts gets great support from Helgenberger, Eckhart (so different from the doughy loser he played in “Your Friends and Neighbors”), Peter Coyote, and the others. As Ed Masry, consummate pro Finney knows exactly what to do--get out of Roberts’ way, let her star power light up the screen, and act the perfect straight man to her lines--and he does it flawlessly.

Though not flashy, his is actually a critical part; he has to be Brockovich’s ally but also, at one level, her antagonist, and, if mishandled, could have derailed the picture. (I won’t comment here on the puzzling trend of casting big name British actors in very American roles--see “The Cider House Rules” --though Finney pulls it off whereas Caine did not.) But Soderbergh gets exactly what he needs from every one of the actors. He also very effectively captures the despair Brockovich feels in the early scenes, and the backwater feel of the small town, half bucolic paradise, half purgatory. There is an element of real life to the picture, which may be why it seems to be connecting with audiences. Perhaps the only thing missing from it is a sense that Brockovich is ever really in jeopardy during the picture (other than financial, that is). She receives one half-heartedly threatening phone call, but that’s about it. Also, the legal outcome is a bit of an anticlimax--more technical wrangling than the meting out of justice, yet the picture still manages to leave us feeling good about the ending. And perhaps Soderbergh should be applauded for avoiding the conventions of the genre; after all, real life is usually not like the movies. Besides, an Everywoman triumph is always a crowd-pleaser. If “Erin Brockovich” never really rises above the level of good entertainment, that’s OK; like star Roberts--and the real life Brockovich--the picture is just too appealing to root against. (3/25/00)