Erin Brockovich

Starring: Julia Roberts, Albert Finney, Conchata Ferrell

Directed by Steven Soderbergh

Written by Susannah Grant

Music by Thomas Newman

Cinematography by Edward Lachman

As I recall, I saw "Erin Brockovich" about six months ago when it was released on video in the U.S. I was generally unimpressed with the film. My initial notes reveal that it was overlong, unexciting, with only a good performance by Julia Roberts to its credit. After the recent surprising acclaim given to this movie by the Motion Picture Academy and to it's director, Steven Soderbergh, I decided to pop it into my VCR again and see what I had missed. My new notes say that Brockovich is boring, overlong, and completely forgettable. Not even a strong performance by Roberts can save this dud.

Based on a true story, the film deals with a brassy, twice divorced single mother, Erin Brockovich (Roberts) who cons her way into a new job at a law firm as a file clerk. Armed with only her foul mouth, short skirts and impressive cleavage, the young heroine proves to be no fool. She accidentally comes upon an old case file dealing with PG&E, a large power company, accidentally poisoning the water supply to 600 people in a small town on the edge of California's Mojave desert. The film deals with Brockovich's investigation and exposure of PG&E's cover-up and the subsequent legal battle that resulted in the largest direct class action settlement in U.S. history.

One would think that this David and Goliath story would make an interesting film. Alas, Soderbergh falls flat. While developing the strong character of Brockovich, he allows the story to be secondary and we lose the narrative in the process. Obviously, this film was designed to be a major star vehicle for Julia Roberts. In this, Soderbergh succeeds, as Roberts is good enough to make this film her own. Unfortunately, what we are left with is a two hour and ten minute character study that fails to sustain the length of the film.

"Erin Brockovich" was a huge box office success. This is the only explanation for the undeserved attention by the Academy. Nothing impresses Hollywood like success. After raising the bar of excellence in 1999-2000, it is a shame to see the Oscars, once again, drift into mediocrity.

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