It’s a classic David and Goliath story. Small town Californian lawyers take on the Pacific Gas & Electric Company and its illegal dumping of the highly toxic hexavalent chromium, resulting in the poisoning of local residents.
Fiery unemployed single mother of three, Erin Brockovich (Julia Roberts), cajoles lawyer Ed Masry (Albert Finney) into employing her as a legal assistant. A chance investigation leads to one of the biggest class action lawsuits in American history – with Brockovich leading the fight in spite of her lack of legal training.
Director Steven Soderbergh takes this true story and turns it into a joyful, rousing entertainment as Roberts, inappropriate throughout, take on the corporate big boys and shows them what’s what.
Nominated for 5 Oscars in 2001 (including best film, script, director, supporting actor) and won 1 (Julia Roberts).
Rating: 81%
Director: Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, The Laundromat)
Writer: Susannah Grant (28 Days, Ever After: A Cinderella Story)
Main cast: Julia Roberts (Pretty Woman, Eat Pray Love), Albert Finney (Tom Jones, The Dresser), Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight, Thank You For Smoking)
An Opinion or Two 