Erin Brockovich (2000)

Directed by Steven Soderbergh. Starring Julia Roberts, Albert Finney, Aaron Eckhart, Marg Helgenberger, Conchata Ferrell, Peter Coyote, Veanne Cox, Tracey Walter, Scarlett Pomers, Cherry Jones, Michael Harney, Adilah Barnes, Jamie Harrold. [R]

Brassy, bossy, twice-divorced single mom Erin Brockovich (Roberts) uses audacity, confrontational tactics, and cleavage to help herself to a job at a small law firm run by lawyer Ed Masry (Finney) and then investigate a real estate case involving hundreds of potential plaintiffs and corporate malfeasance on the part of Pacific Gas and Electric. Susannah Grant based her screenplay on a true story, but the plotting merely connects the dots—covering most of the same territory already mapped out in recent years by A Civil Action and The Rainmaker—and the supporting characters are too often designed for trained audience response and an effort to make the heroine look like a saint-with-attitude; Erin also has a romance with a bearded biker (Eckhart) who moves in next door, but there’s nothing to the character besides being a nice guy who wants more than she’s willing to give. Roberts won an Oscar for her “gutsy star” performance, but Finney is the one to watch. The real Brockovich has a cameo as a waitress.

58/100