Erin Brockovich review

Erin Brockovich is a hugely enjoyable legal thriller which continues a welcome run of form for its director Steven Soderbergh (who recently received critical acclaim for both The Limey and Out of Sight) and star Julia Roberts (back on a roll after the huge successes of My Best Friend's Wedding and Notting Hill). Its plot is remarkably similar to one of last year's eco-friendly legal movies, A Civil Action, which also featured a star on the comeback trail (John Travolta) but which was so dull and unconvincing that it passed most filmgoers by. The same filmgoers should be clamouring to see this year's version of Hollywood caring for the community as it is one of the most accessible and surprisingly successful films of the last twelve months.

Roberts is on outstanding form as the eponymous mother of two young kids who is forever stretching her last dollar in order to keep her family fed. This is one determined and ballsy woman used to the constant rejection of job applications. Her lack of qualifications and flamboyant sense in bra-wear don't help as they are frowned upon by the suits in the administration jobs she has had, and she rarely lasts long enough to pick up her first monthly cheque. The film strives to make her strength come through - even when her house has cockroaches she is too proud to go on welfare. She has few friends, and a hairy Harley rider has just moved in next door.

Just as she is about to hit rock bottom, she gets one more desk job, this time in the legal office of Ed Masry (Albert Finney). Masry's is a pokey middle of nowhere legal office, where is biding his time until retirement. During Erin's routine job of maintaining library files she comes across a forgotten case of neglect on behalf of an out-of-town power plant accused by local residents of poisoning them by negligently spilling toxic waste into their water supply. Intrigued, our would-be legal eagle starts to take some of the files home to study and soon enough she is badgering local university scientists for expert opinions on toxicology.

This might all seem fairly predictable, and indeed it actually is. However, the teamwork of Roberts and Finney combines to make it all very watchable: the feisty and self-deprecating Erin, the would be tyrant boss Masry (Finney delivers one of his best ever performances). Soderbergh's snappy direction brings everything together: no scene appears unnecessarily long and pace is the order of the day throughout.

Of course Masry protests at Erin's insistence on following up on the case. Of course Erin persists, digging deeper and deeper until she actually believes they can prove guilt on behalf of the nasty plant owners. Of course we've seen this all before: the naïve everywoman shaking down the system and grasping the subtleties of corporate law. A thousand Grisham acolytes have written the same plot over and over. Nevertheless, the skill in making this such a refreshing spectacle must be acknowledged and the trio of Roberts, Finney and Soderbergh should be remembered come award time.

And of course it is all true. The real Erin Brockovich has invaded our TV screens to vouch for the film's accuracy and even appears in a brief scene as a waitress. We are left to imagine what was thrown in to make it fit the Hollywood formula (my money is on the eventual relationship between Erin and hairy Harley man - at least for the real Erin's sake). But thinking about the film after it has finished the viewer is genuinely unconcerned about what was truth or fiction - a rare feat indeed.