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"Erin Brockovich" is " Silkwood " ( Meryl Streep fighting nuclear wastes) crossed with " A Civil Action " ( John Travolta against pollution) plus Julia Roberts in a plunging neckline. Roberts plays a real-life heroine who helped uncover one of the biggest environmental crimes in history. But her performance upstages the story; this is always Roberts, not Brockovich, and unwise wardrobe decisions position her character somewhere between a caricature and a distraction.

I know all about the real Erin Brockovich because I saw her on "Oprah," where she cried at just the right moment in a filmed recap of her life. She was a divorced mom of three with few employment prospects who talked her way into a job at a law firm, began an investigation on her own initiative and played a key role in a pollution suit that cost Pacific Gas & Electric a $333 million settlement.

There is obviously a story here, but "Erin Brockovich" doesn't make it compelling. The film lacks focus and energy, the character development is facile and thin, and what about those necklines? I know that the real Brockovich liked to dress provocatively; that's her personal style and she's welcome to it. But the Hollywood version makes her look like a miniskirted hooker, with bras that peek cheerfully above her necklines.

Oh, the movie tries to deal with the clothes. "You might want to rethink your wardrobe a little," her boss ( Albert Finney ) tells her. She inelegantly replies, "I think I look nice, and as long as I have one ass instead of two, I'll wear what I like." Yeah, fine, after she's already lost her own personal injury suit by flashing cleavage on the witness stand and firing off four-letter words. When she dresses the same way to go door to door in a working-class neighborhood where industrial chemicals have caused illness, we have to wonder whether, in real life, she was hassled or mistrusted.

Whether she was or wasn't, the costume design sinks this movie. Roberts is a sensational-looking woman, and dressed so provocatively in every single scene, she upstages the material. If the medium is the message, the message in this movie is sex.

That's all the more true because the supporting characters are not vivid or convincing. Finney is one of the most robust and powerful actors in the movies, but here, as a personal injury lawyer named Ed Masry, he comes across like an office manager at H&R Block. He's dampened; there's no fire in his performance, and when he complains that the cost of the lawsuit may bankrupt him, all we can think about is the infinitely greater impact of John Travolta's similar dialogue in "A Civil Action." Erin has a kind of relationship with her next-door neighbor George, a Harley fan who becomes a baby-sitter for her children. George is played by Aaron Eckhart , who was so dominant in " In the Company of Men ," but here, wearing a twerpy John Ritter beard that he doesn't seem comfortable with, he's a shallow cipher. The couple can't even have convincing arguments because there's not enough between them in the first place.

Seeing the details of Brockovich's home life, her relationship with her kids and friends, the way she talks, the way she postures, we're always aware that there's a performance going on. Streep was so much more convincing in the somewhat similar role of Karen Silkwood.

We understand that Pacific Gas & Electric has polluted ground water and is apparently responsible for death and disease, but it never emerges as much of a villain, and in the pallid confrontations with its attorneys, there's none of the juice that Robert Duvall's company attorney brought to "A Civil Action." Director Steven Soderbergh has blown a great opportunity to make the movie that the real Erin Brockovich calls for. Susannah Grant's by-the-numbers screenplay sees the characters as markers on a storyboard rather than flesh-and-blood humans. Scenes with members of the suffering families genuflect in the direction of pathos, but are cut and dried. It doesn't feel like we're seeing Erin Brockovich share the pain, but like we're seeing Julia Roberts paying a house call (again, we remember the power of "A Civil Action").

"Erin Brockovich" has a screenplay with the depth and insight of a cable-TV docudrama, and that won't do for a 126-minute "major production." Maybe it's not that the necklines are distracting. Maybe it's just that the movie gives us so little to focus on that they win by default.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Film credits.

Erin Brockovich (2000)

Rated R For Language

126 minutes

Julia Roberts as Erin Brockovich

Albert Finney as Ed Masry

Aaron Eckhart as George

Marg Helgenberger as Donna Jensen

Cherry Jones as Pamela Duncan

Peter Coyote as Kurt Potter

Directed by

• Steven Soderbergh
• Susannah Grant

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‘erin brockovich’: thr’s 2000 review.

On March 17, 2000, Julia Roberts and Steven Soderbergh brought 'Erin Brockovich' to theaters.

By Kirk Honeycutt

Kirk Honeycutt

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Julia Roberts and Albert Finney in 2000's Erin Brockovich . 

On March 17, 2000, Julia Roberts and Steven Soderbergh  brought Erin Brockovich to theaters. The film went on to claim five Oscar nominations at the 73rd Academy Awards and a best actress win for Roberts. The Hollywood Reporter’s original review is below: 

Julia Roberts marches through Erin Brockovich like a force of nature. Granted, the movie gives her all of the best lines — to say nothing of its most eye-catching wardrobe. But the actress seizes the film’s eponymous role with fire-in-her-eyes possessiveness and injects the character with all the energy and drive she can muster. Her performance is a true star turn, one that should make this Universal/Columbia production from Jersey Films into a solid hit.

Related Stories

'deadwood': thr's 2004 review, 'family guy': thr's 1999 review.

Based on a real person, the movie tells the hard-to-believe yet true story of Erin Brockovich , a foul-mouthed ex-beauty queen, given to wearing skin-tight skirts and revealing blouses, who as a low-wage employee at a small law firm managed to put together a huge lawsuit over contaminated water. The $333 million settlement from Pacific Gas & Electric Co. was the largest in U.S. history.

But Susannah Grant’s shrewdly written screenplay shies away from courtrooms and judges’ chambers, the kinds of things that caused A Civil Action to bog down. More akin to Silkwood or Norma Rae , the film zeroes in on a woman’s voyage of self-discovery brought about by a passionate conviction that a serious wrong must be righted.

The plaintiffs are people just like her — struggling blue-collar workers and their families, whose well-beings are jeopardized by corporate indifference and disdain.

Crisply directed by Steven Soderbergh , who is fast becoming one of the most reliable directors working within the studio system, the production uses its first act simply to let the viewer get to know Erin Brockovich . With three kids and two ex-husbands, the unemployed single mom is down on her luck before a car accident causes her to rack up medical bills.

When her suit against the other driver ends in failure, she all but blackmails her lawyer Ed Masry (Albert Finney) into hiring her to work at his Los Angeles law firm. Thoroughly disliked by the other female employees, who feel uncomfortable with her mode of dress and colorful language, Erin nevertheless throws herself into the job.

While setting up a file for a pro bono real estate account, she stumbles across medical records that confuse her. Investigating, she discovers a poisoning of the water supply in California’s Mojave Desert and a cover-up by PG&E.

Leaving her kids in the care of her boyfriend and next-door neighbor, a biker named George (Aaron Eckhart), she travels hundreds of miles in her beat-up car to visit potential victims. She emotionally connects with these folks because her concerns are genuine and her passion unmistakable. But the detective work takes a toll on her own family, causing her kids to feel abandoned and her boyfriend to split.

Central to the story is the relationship between Erin and her boss, an aging, small-potatoes lawyer who hopes to wind down his practice only to have his fire-breathing employee thrust him into the biggest — and costliest — case of his career. “I really hate you sometimes,” he says to Erin. He does so with a laugh, but there’s no doubt he means it, too.

Finney is marvelous in his scenes with Roberts. He lets her dominate without diminishing his rumpled character one bit. The love-hate relationship between these people from different generations gives the drama much of its comic spin.

Cinematographer Ed Lachman , production designer Phil Messina and costume designer Jeffrey Kurland bring us into the blue-collar neighborhoods and poor desert communities along with the downtown high-rise law offices, firmly establishing the class conflict that is the heart of the lawsuit. Each world seldom sees — and certainly never welcomes — interlopers from the other. Yet Erin brashly knocks down all barriers without any concern for whose feathers get ruffled.

Soderbergh  lets the details of these polar-opposite worlds seep the story ever forward. Smooth editing by Anne V. Coates lets the legal and investigative scenes get reduced to simple, telling shots.

This is a long movie, and certain repetition does creep in. Nevertheless, there is never a dull moment. Not with Roberts taking charge. — Kirk Honeycutt, originally published on March 6, 2000. 

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Erin brockovich, common sense media reviewers.

Legal drama based on a true story has lots of cursing.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Based on a true story, movie shows the power of th

Erin Brockovich stops at nothing when she realizes

Car accident: Driver runs an intersection and slam

Implied sex between lead character and eventual bo

Frequent profanity. Lead character uses "f--k

Harley-Davidson motorcycle, scenes in which a youn

Some beer drinking. Cigarette smoking.

Parents need to know that Erin Brockovich is a 2000 movie based on a true story in which Julia Roberts plays a woman who finds her calling after working for a law firm and investigating how a small California town is being poisoned by a large utilities company. In moments of conflict and argument, Brockovich&…

Positive Messages

Based on a true story, movie shows the power of the dedicated underdog in taking on a multibillion-dollar utilities corporation.

Positive Role Models

Erin Brockovich stops at nothing when she realizes the extent of the pollution and its hazardous effects in the community she is sent to investigate, and for all her sarcasm and anger, she's also capable of tremendous empathy as she connects with the citizens of the town in ways that the lawyers she works with cannot.

Violence & Scariness

Car accident: Driver runs an intersection and slams his car into the side of the lead character's car.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Implied sex between lead character and eventual boyfriend, shown before and then after in bed, no nudity. Lead character makes a joke in which she says she got her information by performing oral sex on the hundreds of plaintiffs involved in a case. Main character shows lots of cleavage.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Frequent profanity. Lead character uses "f--k" many times. "A--hole," "s--thead," "bitch," "pissed," "damn," "goddamn."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Harley-Davidson motorcycle, scenes in which a young boy wears a Harley-Davidson T-shirt while playing a Harley-Davidson-themed version of Monopoly.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Erin Brockovich is a 2000 movie based on a true story in which Julia Roberts plays a woman who finds her calling after working for a law firm and investigating how a small California town is being poisoned by a large utilities company. In moments of conflict and argument, Brockovich's go-to word is "f--k"; other curse words are used as well. Implied sex between lead character and eventual boyfriend, shown before and then after in bed, no nudity. She makes a joke about performing oral sex on the hundreds of plaintiffs in a case in order to get them to sign some necessary documents and shows lots of cleavage. Some smoking and drinking. Brockovich should be seen as a hero worthy of having a movie made about her, but she isn't "heroic" in the classical sense and is rough around the edges. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (8)
• Kids say (10)

Based on 8 parent reviews

A feel good film done with Soderbergh's touch

Tour de roberts, what's the story.

When she loses her lawsuit after a car accident, ERIN BROCKOVICH ( Julia Roberts ) forces the lawyer who represented her ( Albert Finney as Ed Masry) to give her a job. No one wants her there, and no one likes her because she has a big mouth and wears trashy clothes. But she is curious and tenacious. She gets interested in a real estate file that includes medical records, and goes off to investigate. It turns out that the community of Hinkley has been poisoned by hexavalent chromium, leaching into the drinking water from a PG&E plant. Erin gains the trust of the community and helps Ed put together a case that would win the largest direct claim settlement in American history.

Is It Any Good?

This movie is truly an enjoyable ride. The movie poster for it says, "She brought a small town to its feet and a huge company to its knees." So viewers know where it's all going, and just settle back and have fun. Julia Roberts keeps getting better and better, more luminous, and at the same time more vulnerable and more in control. She plays Erin as a woman who never stopped believing in herself and yet is deeply touched when others believe in her, too. She understands the way the people in Hinkley feel, mistrustful of lawyers and overwhelmed by the odds. She understands that "people want to tell their stories." And she has enough confidence in herself to know that, while she might not have been able to keep her beauty queen promise of ending world hunger, this is a promise she can keep.

She understands, too, that there will be costs. A romance with a loving biker/nanny (George, played by Aaron Eckhart , who makes that combination endearingly believable) and her relationships with her children are threatened by her devotion to the case. In a heartbreaking scene, she is driving back home after a hard day and George tells her that her baby spoke her first word. Erin is overjoyed at the news and devastated to have missed it. The look in her eyes as George tells her all about it is complex, rich, perfect. And there are many Rocky / Norma Rae -style feel-good moments, like when PG&E's first lawyer, looking like a high school debate club president, tries to bully Erin and Ed, and when Erin uses everything from her cleavage to her baby to get access to the records she needs.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about why it is that Erin is able to connect with the residents of Hinkley, why she is reluctant to accept help from anyone, and the importance of not judging people based on their appearance. They may also want to talk about the issue of corporate responsibility. No one at PG&E wanted anyone to get hurt. How do problems like lack of accountability arise?

How is Erin Brockovich shown to be heroic while also a flawed character? How does she compare to protagonists in other movies?

What would be the challenges in adapting a true story such as this one, with all its legal complications and twists, into an engaging movie?

Movie Details

• In theaters : March 17, 2000
• On DVD or streaming : August 15, 2000
• Cast : Albert Finney , David Brisbin , Julia Roberts
• Director : Steven Soderbergh
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Universal Pictures
• Genre : Drama
• Character Strengths : Courage , Empathy , Perseverance
• Run time : 132 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : language and sexual references and situation
• Last updated : February 14, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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March 17, 2000 FILM REVIEW `Erin Brockovich': High Ideals, Higher Heels Related Articles The New York Times on the Web: Current Film Video Trailer and Selected Scenes From the Film 'Erin Brockovich' Forum Join a Discussion on Current Film By A. O. SCOTT Bob Marshak/Universal Studios Crusader: Julia Roberts stars in "Erin Brockovich," directed by Steven Soderbergh. e first encounter Erin Brockovich (Julia Roberts), a twice-divorced mother of three with emphatic taste in clothes, in the midst of a run of bad luck. After bluffing her way through a disastrous job interview, she is involved in a car accident. Although she accessorizes her short skirts and tight tops with a fetching neck brace, her lawsuit against the other driver, a wealthy doctor, fails. One baby-sitter quits, her replacement has the demeanor of a medicated psychopath, and a motorcycle gang has moved in next door. Erin's bank balance stands at $74, and her baby is running a fever. For its first half-hour or so, as the movie tracks its heroine's growing desperation, "Erin Brockovich" is a minor tour de force. Ms. Roberts, a quick-witted, inventive actress when she's in the mood, shows us her character's abrasiveness as well as her vulnerability, her simmering anger, her sexiness and charm. Erin's life is like a panicky sprint in high-heeled shoes; at any moment she may collapse into a heap of ridiculousness or break her neck. It is also in the early part of "Erin Brockovich," before it becomes a standard-issue do-gooder melodrama, that the director's hand is most in evidence. The director in question is Steven Soderbergh, who has, in the years since "Sex, Lies and Videotape," matured into a cinematic stylist of striking erudition and originality. This time out he restrains some of his bolder impulses: there are none of the sudden flashbacks that kept "Out of Sight" so brilliantly off balance, and certainly no brazen jump cuts, as in "The Limey" last year. But Mr. Soderbergh's signature is nonetheless visible in the slow, offbeat pacing of his scenes and in his sharp sense of visual detail. His camera is like a wry, unobtrusive observer, waiting to be surprised by what it sees. And by seeming simply to watch the world move in its own jerky rhythm, he comes upon moments of jolting intensity. You not only witness the humiliations casually and routinely visited on working-class women; you feel in the pit of your stomach the overwhelming anxiety of impoverished single motherhood, which often amounts to a state of sheer terror. But then, once "Erin Brockovich" stumbles upon its plot, everything changes. Erin's luck takes a happier turn: she lands a low-paying, no-benefits job working for Ed Masry (Albert Finney), the gruff ambulance chaser who represented her in her own failed lawsuit; her neighbor the biker (Aaron Eckhart) turns out to be a sensitive he-man who's happy to provide free baby-sitting in anticipation of his inevitable promotion to love interest; and soon enough the plucky Erin has embarked on a long legal battle to help the residents of a Southern California town whose health has been ruined by toxic chemicals from a power plant. And as Erin Brockovich becomes a crusader for justice, "Erin Brockovich" becomes a doggedly conventional crusader-for-justice Hollywood soap opera, a smooth second-hand amalgam of "Norma Rae" and "Silkwood," with vigorous nods to "The Rainmaker" and "A Civil Action." Who could have foreseen that this most unpredictable of filmmakers could have made a movie so utterly predictable? Not only is every plot development signaled far in advance, but nearly every scene in the film's long second section rings a variation of one of two themes: 1) Julia Roberts tells somebody off, or 2) Julia Roberts feels somebody's pain. Sorry, I meant to say Erin Brockovich. But that's just the problem. After proving, for about 40 minutes, what a marvelous actress she can be, Ms. Roberts spends the next 90 content to be a movie star. As the movie drags on, her performance swells to bursting with moral vanity and phony populism. It's as though her contract stipulated that nobody else was allowed to be attractive or appealing on screen. Mr. Finney, puffing and growling, is convincingly attired in garish shirts and a curly toupee that will forever expunge memories of the raffish seducer in "Tom Jones." Mr. Eckhart is nice enough, but too hairy to compete with Ms. Roberts in the charisma department. The noncompetition clause seems to have been applied with special rigor to the female characters. Erin's co-workers at the law firm are frumpy, badly dressed and just plain mean. Her nemesis, a lawyer (Veanne Cox) who is actually on the same side of the case, is an uptight snob with no feeling for the ordinary hard-working folks she must represent. In contrast, Erin is a life force, brimming with wholesome sexuality and unpretentious common sense. As Erin helps the victims of corporate negligence find redress, she herself finds confidence and a sense of purpose. Her zeal for her job causes inevitable conflicts with her lover and her children, but these are dramatic red herrings. "I want the fairy tale" was the tag line of the movie that made Julia Roberts a star, and a fairy tale is what "Erin Brockovich" becomes. It retails the fantasy that selflessness and self-interest are perfectly congruent. For all its plain-folks sentiment, the movie's moral compass is calibrated in dollars: hundreds of millions of them. That's what the victims of corporate negligence demand, and that's what this movie is likely to earn at the box office. It will most likely also earn Ms. Roberts an Oscar nomination and make Mr. Soderbergh among the most sought-after directors in Hollywood. When a film so ardently embraces every cliché that crosses its path, how can a hapless reviewer do otherwise? "Erin Brockovich" will make you laugh. It will make you cry. It will make you stand up and cheer. "Erin Brockovich" is the feel-good movie of the year. "Erin Brockovich" is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). It contains a scattering of obscenities and sexual references and displays of female cleavage in the service of a noble cause. ERIN BROCKOVICH Directed by Steven Soderbergh; written by Susannah Grant; director of photography, Ed Lachman; edited by Anne V. Coates; music by Thomas Newton; production designer, Phil Messina; produced by Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher; released by Universal Pictures/Columbia Pictures. Running time: 127 minutes. This film is rated R. WITH: Julia Roberts (Erin Brockovich), Albert Finney (Ed Masry), Aaron Eckhart (George), Cherry Jones (Pamela Duncan), Peter Coyote (Kurt Potter) and Veanne Cox (Theresa Dallavale). Showtimes and tickets from 777-FILM Online

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Erin Brockovich Reviews

Steven Soderbergh wields Julia Roberts’ star power to draw public attention to an environmental issue. It’s a shrewd tactic, but typical of the director using A-list actors to expose predatory corporate and capitalistic behaviors.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 27, 2023

[Erin Brokovich is] a real-life Wonder Woman...

Full Review | Jul 19, 2021

A relaxed but powerful American star-vehicle.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 16, 2021

Much like 2010's "Gasland" (environmental poisoning by fracking) and 2019's "Dark Waters" (poisoning by DuPont's Teflon), "Erin Brockovich" is about whistle-blowing on Pacific Gas and Electric's groundwater poisoning via hexavalent chromium.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 24, 2020

The script is well-written with a simplicity that makes it easy to understand despite the challenging topic.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4.0 | Sep 7, 2020

In the title role, Roberts carries the film in the best sense, by taking us on a human journey of genuine discovery and growth.

Full Review | Feb 16, 2018

Julia Roberts is masterful.

Full Review | Sep 15, 2017

A shining example of everything promising about American moviemaking as it entered the 21st Century.

Full Review | Original Score: 9/10 | Nov 27, 2014

There's really no reason this kind of conventional David-and-Goliath tale (based on a true story) should make for such a compelling motion picture, but Soderbergh and Grant smartly mix plenty of humor and unflagging inspiration into the drama.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jun 14, 2012

smartly directed, with Soderbergh perfecting his style but not overdoing it

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Jun 8, 2012

establishes Roberts as a modern Kate Hepburn-one with inner strength and charm and sincerity

Full Review | Original Score: B | May 31, 2012

Julia Roberts winner. R mostly for language.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 24, 2010

Julia Roberts has never been more fragile or stunning. And by oncerning itself with truthful consequences of its characters' self-sacrifices, the film succeeds as a drama as much about the passion of personal investment as the pursuit of justice.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Sep 24, 2010

In this Oscar-winning fairytale, combining traits of Norma Rae and Karen Silkwood, Julia Roberts is at her most winning and sexiest as the lone-figher against the system; that it's inspired by an actual case makes it more fun to watch.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Feb 21, 2008

An example of Hollywood entertainment done with finesse and compassion, the way it always should be but so often isn't.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Jul 30, 2007

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 14, 2007

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/5 | Dec 6, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 6, 2005

It would have seemed impossible to me that a writer could take such a worn-out premise and make it enthralling, but this guy has done it.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Jan 15, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 0/4 | Jan 16, 2004

Erin Brockovich Review

07 Apr 2000

133 minutes

Erin Brockovich

Your typical Julia Roberts vehicle tends to do what it says on the tin: big budget romcom shenanigans with that smile, and those legs. Cue: box office jamboree. Open up Erin Brockovich, though, and inside is something radically new: a superlative character piece where you actually stop thinking that Julia Roberts is, well, Julia Roberts, and immerse yourself in the travails and triumphs of trashy single mum Erin Brockovich and her legal crusade. A performance, in fact, that earned the Pretty Woman an Oscar.

Brockovich is presented initially as a terminally unlucky but doggedly determined individual wrestling with trying to bring up her kids, stymie her mounting debts by finding an elusive job and generally come to terms with the fact that her life, thus far, has come to nothing. What she has in droves is empathy for fellow victims and the steely determination to scale mountains. Usually with suits on.

Her great cause - and the movie's plot - lies in her discovery that a huge corporation's negligent pollution of a small town has resulted in a horrendous array of cancers and illness amongst the locals. Having wormed her way into a smalltime law firm as a skivvie, by sheer force of will she then cajoles her long-suffering boss Ed Masry (Finney) to take up the case and let her do her stuff -you know, win over the folks, take on the dastardly big time lawyer types with her roughshod-but-real ways while neglecting her family and top new boyfriend (Eckhart), as she discovers someone she really likes. Herself.

Okay, so it makes no bones about going for the obvious (and you can virtually tick off the dramatic highpoints) - its basis in truth notwithstanding, the movie is certainly predictable. But it does it so well, a less showy than usual Soderbergh delivering a movie that is both intensely funny and emotionally satisfying. It may lack the gravitas of The Insider, whose themes of ordinary folk striving against corporate pressure it closely mirrors, but it still makes the same passionate points about the evils inherent in big business America and how an individual can still affect the system.

Brockovich is brought to life with a hitherto unseen range by Roberts, enlivening the nascent grit with a splendidly foul-mouthed wit as she delivers the film's nicely timed comic relief. Lost is the gorgeous movie star and born is a real person: vulnerable, caring, balls of brass. Finney, alongside her, gives one of those rich character turns that remind why you always loved him: a mix of exasperation, tenderness and emerging belief etched into his creased looks as he deals with this force of nature he somehow employs.

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Let's revisit our 2000 review of Erin Brockovich

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of theatrical release of Erin Brockovich, here’s our review from Mar. 17, 2000.

The pre-credits announcement “based on a true story” before a film about real-life triumph over adversity seldom signals the start of something great. It’s not that there aren’t true stories of genuine struggle worth telling, but there don’t seem to be many ways to tell them without plot points placed in accordance with a screenwriting manual and a climactic courtroom showdown.

As might be expected, director Steven Soderbergh ( Out Of Sight, sex, lies, and videotape ) rises to the task with Erin Brockovich . There’s not an ominously pounding gavel to be found in the true story of the eponymous working-class woman (Julia Roberts), a lowly, almost accidental, employee of an L.A. lawyer (a terrific Albert Finney) whose persistence, resourcefulness, and investigative skill results in an overdue settlement from a California gas and electric company that knowingly poisoned a small town over the course of several decades. While the ins and outs of the case receive adequate explanation, the real focus is on Roberts’ own struggle, fought as much against economic pressure and class prejudice as “the system.”

If Roberts never thoroughly convinces as a twice-divorced single mother of three, it has less to do with her acting than her movie-star familiarity. It’s a fine performance, nicely framed by Soderbergh’s portrayal of working-class life. Employing neither condescension nor glorification (and taking his cues from Jonathan Demme’s work in Citizens’ Band and Melvin And Howard ), Soderbergh captures a world in which making every penny count is the first rule of survival, and your professional, if not personal, worth must be continually proven. Together, Roberts and Finney convey a kind of chemistry that has nothing to do with her character’s overtly sexual wardrobe: Her devotion and compassion to a seemingly lost cause stir something in both his head and his quadruple-bypassed heart. A nearly unrecognizable Aaron Eckhart also does well as the Harley-loving neighbor whose affection for Roberts and her children is strained by her near-constant absence.

Erin Brockovich is paced leisurely, but there’s not a wasted moment. By the time it arrives at its pre-ordained conclusion, it’s clear just how hard-won the victory has been, a battle entertainingly and respectfully conveyed without once falling back on an unearned cliché.

Screen Rant

12 biggest changes julia roberts' erin brockovich makes to the true story.

Julia Roberts' Erin Brockovich is a powerful film focused on one lawyer's pursuit of justice, but the movie takes a lot of creative license.

• Erin Brockovich's lawyer, Ed Masry, did not actually represent her. His partner, Jim Vititoe, handled her car accident case instead.
• Erin Brockovich herself suffered from chromium poisoning during her investigation, but this was not included in the final cut of the film to avoid making her a martyr.
• The character Donna Jensen is a composite of several real Hinkley victims involved in the case, and the payout received by the victims varied greatly, with many receiving small sums and the majority going to the law firm of Masry & Vititoe.

Erin Brockovich is a powerful story about a lawyer's investigation into the major cover-up of a local community's contaminated water supply, earning its star Julia Roberts an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role, but the film makes several hangs to the true story of Erin Brockovich and her pursuit of justice. After landing a job at the same law firm handling her car accident case Brockovich, a divorced single mother, discovered medical files hidden within real estate folders indicating extreme illness as a result of Hinkley's drinking water contaminated by PG&E. Brockovich's fight against the utility company made national headlines in the late '90s.

At the time Roberts took on the role of the tenacious paralegal, the case was still actively a part of the zeitgeist, and thanks to streaming and memorable Erin Brockovich quotes , new fans are discovering Brockovich's intrepid work three decades later. While dramatic biographies like Erin Brockovich tell a riveting David and Goliath story, and the film primarily sticks to the case, there are some things that Erin Brockovich gets wrong about the facts. Creative liberties make for a more melodramatic thriller that tugs at the heartstrings, but the ending wasn't quite as happy as it would have viewers believe.

12 Ed Masry Never Represented Erin Brockovich

His partner jim vititoe handled her car accident.

Edward L. Masry {Albert Finney) is shown representing Erin Brockovich after she's injured in a car accident and is struggling with unemployment. When they end up losing the case, Erin is shocked, and makes Masry hire her to work at his firm after trusting him to win her case. The real Masry makes a cameo in the film during the diner scene sitting over Roberts' shoulder, but he never represented Erin Brockovich - that fell to his partner, Jim Vititoe, but it makes sense from a dramatic point to give the two characters a quick connection that demonstrates their respective combative and altruistic qualities for conflict later.

11 The Real Erin Brockovich Got Chromium Poisoning

It made her closer to the hinkley victims.

During her investigation of Hinkley's water supply, Erin Brockovich herself got chromium poisoning, and a hospital scene with Julia Roberts was filmed to include that. However, speaking on the Erin Brockovich DVD commentary, director Steven Soderbergh decided against including the scene in the final cut of the film. He believed that it would make Erin into a martyr.

"It was going to "turn into one of those movies where the protagonist gets terminally ill."

The director made the uncharacteristic choice to not play too heavily on the audience's sympathy with a maudlin scene and instead focused on Brockovich's work ethic.

10 Donna Jensen Doesn't Exist

She's based on several real hinkley victims.

Donna Jensen (Marg Helgenberger) is part of the big case against PG&E, but no such person exists. Instead, she's a composite of several people involved in the real case, most specifically Roberta Walker, who was the main inspiration and enjoyed a portion of the very large payout that the utility company was forced to pay in the settlement. Having a character who serves as an amalgamation allows for a lot more flexibility in the narrative of the story than a real person, and they can be used (or not used) in whatever way best serves the pacing or momentum of the drama unfolding.

9 Hinkley Victims Payout Didn't Have A Happy Ending

Reimbursement amounts varied.

While the victims of chromium poisoning did receive dispensation for their medical issues, Erin Brockovich's ending is very much a product of Hollywood movie magic. Of the whopping $333 million, the highest settlement paid in the United States for a direct-action lawsuit, it was not distributed based on the medical issues of each family who was affected, and many who thought they would receive a substantial amount to cover their medical bills received paltry sums, and often their medical records weren't consulted to determine it. There was no rhyme or reason to the payout, and half of it ($133.6 million) went to the law firm of Masry & Vititoe.

8 Hinkley Never Had Higher Cancer Rates

Higher cancer rates make erin brockovich more dramatic.

The hexavalent chromium that became the focus of Erin's investigations in Hinkley was thought to be a known carcinogen at the time. Studies that have come out since the time of the film's release have shown that no one in the town suffered higher cancer rates than anywhere else in the area. According to the California Cancer Registry , the rates of cancer remained unremarkable from 1988 to 2008, which is when the case was pursued. While the victims of the water contamination suffered excruciatingly, it's clear that some of the data was changed in the film to draw more attention to the heinous plight of Hinkley's residents.

7 Erin Brockovich's Massive Payout Was More Than $2 Million

She made another $500,000.

The scene where Ed presents Erin with her bonus check is one of the scenes' great red herrings because it doesn't include the dollar amount they discussed. She assumes it's less than what they agreed by the way he refers to the sum, but in actuality, it's more than either of them imagined - an incredible $2 million. In point of fact, the real Erin Brockovich's windfall was even higher than that at $2.5 million, which highlighted her temerity, resourcefulness, and determined spirit as an underdog taking on a huge corporation that would normally have been able to outlast a small firm in court simply by throwing money at the problem.

6 Erin Brockovich Was Never Miss Wichita

She won beauty pageants in other states.

While the real Erin Brockovich was a beauty queen, she never won Miss Wichita despite Kansas being her home state. She did win Miss Pacific Coast in 1981, but later left the world of beauty pageants behind because of its elitist nature. In the DVD commentary for Erin Brockovich , Soderbergh explained that the change simply came down to wanting the character to have some pride in her home state, and seem more connected to Kansas because it was "cute."

5 Erin Brockovich's Ex-Boyfriend Was Her Nanny

He also sued her after the case.

In the film, Aaron Eckhart plays Erin Brockovich's boyfriend George, a character based on the real Erin Brockovich's Hispanic biker boyfriend Jorge. Unlike in the film, after Erin and her boyfriend broke up, he was employed as her children's nanny for years by the law firm so that she could spend more time focusing on her work. It's possible that this scenario would have been overly complicated for the film to include, but it's a fascinating example of two adults putting their mutual differences aside for a purpose larger than themselves (although Jorge did try to sue Brockovich after she got her $2.5 million).

4 Erin Brockovich Didn't Use Her Body

But she did have a provocative sense of style.

The real Erin Brockovich wore revealing outfits in the office and to court out of a sense of self-expression. However, unlike in certain scenarios in the film, she didn't use her body to manipulate or influence people around her in quite the same way that Roberts did to get the information and data she needed to build her case. Roberts' portrayal not only captures the essence of the real paralegal in her body language and outfits, but in her plucky attitude - part of the reason the real Erin Brockovich was so successful is that she didn't care what anyone thought of her, she only cared about getting to the truth.

3 The Water From Hinkley Was Served To Lawyers In A Courtroom

Erin brockovich made a spectacle of pg&e.

In one of Erin Brockovich's best scenes, Erin and Ed sit across from the defense attorneys representing PG&E and negotiate a larger settlement for their Hinkley clients. After Erin recites an exhaustive laundry list of the ailments of the victims, she demands the lawyers consider the most moral sum, and after the negotiations end, she informs them that the water they've been drinking was from Hinkley wells. While this scene was impressive on its own, the real scene took place in a courtroom with many more spectators to make Erin's coup de grâce even more of a show-stopper.

2 The Real Erin Brockovich Is Dyslexic

She overcame it by memorization.

The real Erin Brockovich is dyslexic, making the memorization of legal jargon difficult. She might not have worked as fast as some of the other paralegals, and was often taken to task for being slow, but it can't be argued that she wasn't any less methodical. More of an emphasis could have been put on this in the film as a means of representing those with dyslexia using it as a means to become better in their chosen field, rather than it working to their detriment.

1 Erin Brockovich's Photographic Memory

It was enhanced for the film.

When Erin is accused of not being thorough enough in her research as evidenced by a few missing phone numbers, she's able to promptly rattle off not only the numbers, but the names, addresses, medical history, and family members of each of her clients. It's an impressive scene in Erin Brockovich that helps establish her character, but it's debatable whether such a scene happened with the same cinematic flair. However, it was a chance to showcase Brockovich's incredible memory, and give Roberts her best scathing retort since she put the saleswomen at the Rodeo Drive boutique in their place in Pretty Woman .

Source: California Cancer Registry

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• DVD & Streaming

Erin Brockovich

Content caution.

In Theaters

• Julia Roberts as Erin Brockovich; Albert Finney as Ed Masry; Aaron Eckhart as George; Erin Brockovich-Ellis in a cameo as a waitress

Home Release Date

• Steven Soderbergh

Distributor

• Universal Pictures

Movie Review

Erin Brockovich presents moviegoers with the true story of a woman who transcends her surroundings, takes on the big dogs, and wins . Twice-divorced, this mother of three young children has only a rudimentary education and can’t find a job to save her life. After a failed lawsuit against a wealthy doctor (his speeding car broadsides hers), Erin finds herself unable even to pay the rent for her meager apartment. So she takes a big risk and shows up for work at the office of her lawyer, Ed Masry. He doesn’t want to hire her at first, but she refuses to take no for an answer. Despite her obviously confrontational nature, he gives her a job. Little does he know that he’s just made the biggest decision of both their lives.

Erin does simple clerical duties for a time until she’s struck by one particular case that involves real estate deals and strange sicknesses in the small California town of Hinkley. Her self-driven investigation turns the case on its head, leading to the nation’s largest settlement ever in a direct-action lawsuit. Meanwhile, a gentle biker named George comes into her life, wins her respect, then woos her love. He even babysits her kids and provides stability for her as she explores her newfound life and ambitions.

Positive Elements: Erin’s compassion and love for people always outshines her drive to win the case. She needs the money, but she’s not as interested in getting rich as she is in bringing justice to a town that has been grievously wronged by a large corporation. While crass and profane at times, her heart stays in the right place. She loves her kids and grieves over the time she has to spend away from them while earning a living. Erin is callused and hardened by her lot in life and her two derelict ex-husbands, but she never completely closes herself off. She still expresses hope for the human spirit. Her cause is just and her methods are consistently scrupulous (unless you count using feminine wiles to mesmerize misguided men). George isn’t “just another biker.” Tender, compassionate and gracious, George becomes a father to Erin’s kids. Sure, he’s attracted to Erin, but his motivations go much deeper.

Immodesty and Sexual Content: It is implied that Erin and George strike up a sexual relationship some time after George begins looking after the children. Sex, however, is merely hinted at, not shown. Unfortunately, Erin parades around the bedroom wearing only a bra and an unbuttoned shirt. Indeed, outside the bedroom, she consistently dresses provocatively and uses her short hemlines and always-visible cleavage to help her get her way when she’s around men. Several rude comments refer to sex. Erin sarcastically jokes that she got all her research by performing sexual favors.

Violent Content: None to speak of. Erin’s car spins around when hit by another vehicle.

Crude or Profane Language: Here’s the big rub for Erin Brockovich . Nearly 50 f- and s-words make the film’s otherwise clever dialogue intolerable. Erin’s fondness for the f-word becomes central to her character. Additionally, Jesus’ name is abused and other, milder, profanities intrude, some of them spoken in front of the children.

Drug and Alcohol Content: Several characters drink beer. Erin is shown smoking a cigarette once.

Summary: With its reality-based one-woman-against-the-system story, Erin Brockovich epitomizes the triumph of the human spirit in the face of heavy-handed corporate greed. It energizes theater audiences with its “David vs. Goliath” drama. It elevates the gravity of true justice and “rightness” in a society awash in petty lawsuits. It showcases what people can accomplish when they set their minds to it. Alas, foul language and low necklines will make it unbearable for most discerning families.

Steven Isaac

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Erin Brockovich

Review by brian eggert february 15, 2024.

With Erin Brockovich , Steven Soderbergh wields Julia Roberts’ star power to draw public attention to an environmental issue. It’s a shrewd tactic, but typical of the director using A-list actors to expose predatory corporate and capitalistic behaviors. In a modest but inspiring David and Goliath story, Soderbergh’s film follows a single mother of three who talks her way into a minimum-wage job answering phones at an attorney’s office. Before long, she finds herself spearheading a case against a California utility, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), resulting in the biggest direct-action lawsuit settlement ever at that time. “If you’re trying to sneak something under the wire,” Soderbergh told an interviewer, “By which I mean an adult, intelligent film with no sequel potential, no merchandising, no high concept, and no big hook, it’s nice to have one of the world’s most bankable stars sneaking under with you.” Of course, at the turn of the century, few names were associated with the term “Movie Star” as fully as Julia Roberts, then America’s Sweetheart, known for playing women of a certain warmth, genuineness, and moral standing. Even while playing the titular character, distinct for her foul language, animal print garb, and considerable cleavage, Roberts exudes a moral integrity that, combined with some of Erin’s eyebrow-raising behavior, makes her so compelling.

The role harkened back to Robert’s star-making part in Pretty Woman (1990), where she plays a sexworker who defies the usual movie characteristics for such a role, offering a wholesome and empathetic girl-next-door quality instead. Roberts’ presence encourages audiences to look beyond her Pretty Woman character’s tacky outfits and the predominantly offscreen realities of her métier. She brings a similar effect to Soderbergh’s film, reframing the legal drama from an unprofessional woman’s perspective. Comparable films often center on an attorney, usually a man, whose career objectives are refocused by a case that activates his moral outrage. A Civil Action , released a year before Erin Brockovich , features John Travolta as a beleaguered, small-time lawyer who fights a legal battle against the high-paid corporate attorneys in a groundwater contamination case. Similarly, Dark Waters (2019) features Mark Ruffalo as a corporate defender who risks his prestigious pharmaceutical law career to flip sides against DuPont over the dumping of PFOAs. Next to these conventional examples, Soderbergh’s film offers fewer courtroom scenes or legal jargon. The story unfolds from Erin’s everyday position—that of an average woman who recognizes wrongdoing when she sees it and has genuine empathy for the plaintiffs, which she uses to convince them to join the class-action suit. 

However punchy and sexualized Roberts’ role might be, the scenes that work best in Erin Brockovich involve Erin’s humorous, combative bond with her employer and quiet scenes of human connection with the plaintiffs. Albert Finney plays Edward L. Masry, the self-made attorney with a small practice in Los Angeles. In Hinkley, PG&E attempted to buy victims out of their homes who were exposed to a dangerous carcinogen in the water, Chromium 6, but not before claiming the chemical compound was safe. Finney fits nicely into his role as a stuffy but good-hearted lawyer who gives Erin a chance after botching her sure-thing car accident suit in the opening scenes. Although capable and fatherly, he relies on Erin’s rapport with people and ability to keep the PG&E case details organized; he even needs her to tie his necktie before a meeting, suggesting she’s the fierce office den mother. Keeping a professional exterior, Ed cannot help but admire Erin, leading to satisfying moments when he breaks his self-serious demeanor for a moment of sincerity and humor he has been so reticent to show. 

Grant’s script comes alive thanks to the performances, particularly Roberts’ and Finney’s. Roberts showboats in a role that both plays to her strengths and offers a more imposing version of her usual persona. For instance, Erin quickly lashes out at coworkers (like the one played by Conchata Ferrell), announcing in one volatile scene, “I’m not talking to you, bitch!” She might be accused of creating a toxic workplace today. Even so, tender moments where Erin bonds with a victim of the contamination (Marg Helgenberger) remain affecting, and Roberts displays convincing compassion. Elsewhere, Erin’s relationship with George (Aaron Eckhart), her neighbor and eventual romantic partner, a rugged biker who’s willing to drop everything to babysit her kids every day, feels underserviced. An affable performance from Eckhart counteracts his character’s vague backstory. Similar to Finney’s role, there’s not much for Eckhart to do, except lend his screen presence to boost the main character—an apt gender role reversal, given that in legal dramas, the male lawyer’s love interest is usually underdeveloped.

Erin Brockovich was released in March 2000, more than half a year before the usual awards baiting begins. But critics and awards groups didn’t forget about the film, perhaps because Soderbergh’s Traffic , released in late December of that year, reminded them of the director’s one-two punch. Between the two features, Soderbergh earned dozens of awards and nominations, including five Oscar nominations for each film. Traffic won four statues out of its five categories, including Best Director; Erin Brockovich’s sole Oscar went to Roberts for Best Actress, with voters reminded of her performance given the film’s recent arrival on DVD, the new-ish home video format that had reinvigorated the ancillary marketplace. Beyond the overwhelmingly positive response from critics and audiences, Erin Brockovich marked a breakthrough for Roberts, who took home $20 million of the production’s $52 million budget. While the performers in Traffic took salary cuts to contribute to the ensemble, Roberts became the first woman in Hollywood to command a salary on the scale of Harrison Ford or Tom Cruise. 

Erin Brockovich remains a Julia Roberts vehicle, perhaps even designed in some respect to earn her an Oscar. Conventional as it may seem, Soderbergh delivers a refreshing anti-court legal drama. Whereas other examples in the genre resolve their conflicts in big, emotional courtroom scenes, Soderbergh and Grant follow their non-lawyer character to humanize the conflict from the perspective of a woman who not only isn’t an attorney but doesn’t conform to the legal milieu. Additionally, Soderbergh’s mistrust of corporate greed and government oversight—seen in his Traffic , Ocean’s Eleven (2001), The Good German (2006), The Informant! (2009), Contagion (2011), Side Effects (2013), Unsane (2018), The Laundromat (2019), No Sudden Move (2021), and KIMI (2022)—results in a film that feels straightforward enough but has a sneaky edge in its protagonist. Rather than offering a subversive style or narrative conceit, Soderbergh allows Roberts to take center stage as an ordinary person challenging the system. Selflessly directed, Erin Brockovich is a sly film that banks on Roberts’ power to draw audiences in, and then convey a warranted critique of utilities that don’t have their community’s best interests in mind. However un-Soderbergh-like the film looks, it conforms with his long-held interest in questioning broken and corrupt systems.

(Note:  This review was originally suggested and posted to Patreon on July 27, 2023.)

Bibliography:

Baker, Aaron.  Steven Soderbergh . Contemporary Film Directors. University of Illinois Press, 2011.

DeWaard, Andrew and R. Colin Tait.  The Cinema of Steven Soderbergh: Indie Sex, Corporate Lies, and Digital Videotape . Wallflower Press, 2013.

Gallager, Mark.  Another Steven Soderbergh Experience: Authorship and Contemporary Hollywood . University of Texas Press, 2013.

Kaufman, Anthony.  Steven Soderbergh Interviews . Jackson University Press, 2002.

Palmer, R. Barton and Steven M. Sanders.  The Philosophy of Steven Soderbergh . ‎The University Press of Kentucky, 2011.

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Erin Brockovich

By Peter Travers

Peter Travers

Check out the cleavage in the photo below. Go ahead, stare, get it out of your system. Yes, Julia Roberts, the pretty woman walkin’ down the street on spike heels in Erin Brockovich , jiggles like a babe from Baywatch. Done looking? Good. Because the movie, directed by the reliably surprising Steven Soderbergh ( Out of Sight , The Limey ), is more than an excuse to get off by watching the highest-paid female star in Hollywood flash her ta-tas and talk dirty. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

It would be easy to kick the gas out of this showstopping star vehicle by raising pesky moral questions about exploiting real-life tragedy for fun and profit. But, hey, that’s Hollywood. For a true story about water pollution, cancer and mountains of legal briefs, Erin Brockovich is outrageously, even shamelessly, entertaining. Unlike A Civil Action , which took a muted approach to a similar topic, Erin is as loud as its heroine, a twice-divorced single mother of three young children who revels in flaunting the vocabulary and wardrobe of a hooker. In 1992, Brockovich worked as a file clerk in a small law firm and helped the citizens of Hinkley, California, sue Pacific Gas & Electric, the $30 billion company that contaminated their water, poisoned their children and then lied about it.

‘s a dynamite role, and Roberts comes out blazing — tough, tender, sexy and brashly funny. We meet Erin in crisis, topping off a failed job interview by getting her car rammed at an intersection. In court, she wears a neck brace and ignores the advice of her attorney, Ed Masry (Albert Finney in full, flinty vigor), to dial back on her mouth. Yeah, right. Pointing at the other driver, she yells, “That asshole smashed my fucking neck.” Erin loses her case and blasts Ed for his lawyering: “You suck at it.” Later, Erin begs Ed for a job as a file clerk. The former Miss Wichita can work now, since her kids are at home with George (Aaron Eckhart), the biker dude who’s just moved in next door. Erin rips into George — a sure sign they’ll end up in bed — until the stud reveals that hess a Mr. Mom at heart. Eckhart — a solid-gold charmer — redeems the trite role.

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At the office, Erin’s peekaboo fashion statements alienate her co-workers. “Bite my ass, Krispy Kreme,” she tells a chubette who shoots evil eyefuls at her. To Ed’s suggestion that she rethink her wardrobe, Erin sasses: “Rethink your ties.” OK, itss a little cute. You may worry that screenwriter Susannah Grant, who made her name inventing plots for TV’s “Party of Five,” is planning a new series about a leggy law clerk who outshines her dim boss every week. Call it Erin McBeal.

Never fear. The movie is a winner because Soderbergh, with an uncredited script assist from Richard LaGravanese ( The Fisher King ), tempers the flash with substance. When Erin finds medical records in a real-estate file on the Hinkley case, the facts of the real story kick in. Roberts is a live wire, but her fine, strutting performance is propelled by Erin’s real feelings for those who have been damaged by PG&E. Roberts shows the emotional toll on Erin as she tries to stay responsible to her children and to a job that has provided her with a first taste of self-esteem.

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Credit Soderbergh for not turning Erin Brockovich into a one-woman show. He and cinematographer Ed Lachman keep the community front and center (part of the film was shot in Hinkley, next to the PG&E plant). Soderbergh draws strong performances from a large cast, including Marg Helgenberger as a plaintiff who supports Erin in her crusade and Cherry Jones as a victim who does not.

As for the film’s lapses, Erin blubbering on her car phone when George tells her she’s missed her baby’s first word is pretty daytime TV. And it’s hard to watch actors as good as Finney and Peter Coyote, who plays a legal hotshot, stand around slack-jawed while Erin — armed with a screenwriter’s arsenal of smart put-downs — explains the true meaning of justice. Others may wince when Roberts, who made $20 million for playing Erin, hands over a $5 million settlement to a cancer victim with the line “It’s all you’ll ever need and all your children will ever need.” PG&E paid out $333 million to 634 plaintiffs — the largest settlement ever in a direct-action suit — but that seems paltry compared with the $2 billion that Roberts’ films have grossed. Some value system. Still, it’s hard to resist a heroine who jokes that she signed up 634 plaintiffs to sue PG&E by performing sexual favors. Erin Brockovich, in life and on the screen, can’t sell candy-assed platitudes about the triumph of the human spirit (see The Cider House Rules because, mercifully, she sucks at it.)

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• Erin Brockovich

I t is difficult to know quite how to take Julia Roberts's cleavage in Erin Brockovich , in a film based on this week's second true story, and starring Julia as the eponymous working woman who almost single-handedly leads a successful lawsuit against a corporation that is poisoning the water and giving local people cancer. Her cleavage, on show as never before, is undoubtedly there to connote a more blue-collar class of person - that title is as blunt as you like: this is Ordinary People we're talking about. But Roberts's cleavage is strangely non-sexual. It's thrust in our face, but so is Erin's periodic anger at being patronised as a woman. It alludes more to her status as a heroically hassled single mom with three kids, and also has a little of late-period Princess Diana - a non-man-pleasing cleavage of empowerment and feeling good about yourself.

Karen Silkwood she isn't. But Julia Roberts's screen presence is otherwise very familiar: her face always somewhere on a spectrum between the melon-eating grin and the deathly pale, triangular mask, where the mouth shrinks to the size of a penny and the two veins stand out on the forehead. Under Steven Soderbergh's workmanlike direction, Roberts gives a very competent performance opposite Albert Finney as the personal injury lawyer who gives Erin a filing job in his office, only to find she has uncovered a major corporate scandal. It is a laudable tale, but it often seems as though it's on autopilot. Erin gets sinister, threatening phone calls; Erin's 25-hour days mean she misses her kids growing up - we've been here before. And, unlike Michael Mann's The Insider, there is never a sense of real risk or real danger.

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Where's the Truth in ‘Erin Brockovich’?

'Erin Brockovich' weaves a tale of embellished elements and facts for the sake of a good movie.

The Big Picture

• Erin Brockovich is a compelling courtroom drama that tells the true story of an unemployed single mother who takes on a powerful corporation accused of polluting a city's water supply.
• The film accurately depicts the legal process through Erin Brockovich's experiences and showcases her discoveries about the contamination of groundwater with a carcinogenic chemical.
• While the film received critical acclaim and an Academy Award for Julia Roberts' performance, some aspects of the story and characters were embellished for dramatic effect.

While Hollywood has churned out compelling courtroom dramas since the inception of the genre, Steven Soderbergh ’s 2000 biopic Erin Brockovich proved to be the rare mainstream hit within the genre. Soderbergh proved that a “crowd pleaser” didn’t have to forsake its audience’s intelligence, and crafted a funny, inspirational, and informative story about an incredible moment in recent news. While much of Erin Brockovich's success can be attributed to Soderbergh’s brilliance behind the camera, the film landed with the impact that it had because of the brilliant performance by Julia Roberts in the titular role. While the performance earned Roberts an Academy Award for Best Actress, Erin Brockovich embellishes elements of the real story for the sake of dramatic license.

Erin Brockovich (2000)

An unemployed single mother becomes a legal assistant and almost single-handedly brings down a California power company accused of polluting a city's water supply.

The Inspirational True Story of ‘Erin Brockovich'

Erin Brockovich examines the incredible true story of an unemployed single mother who took on one of the most powerful corporations in American history in the ultimate “David vs. Goliath” scenario. After a critical car accident forces her to go to court, Brockovich’s fiery attitude results in her losing the case. Although her lawyer, Ed Masry ( Albert Finney ), is infuriated about the results, he takes pity on Brockovich when she decides to start working as a paralegal. Although Brockovich is initially a secretary, she discovers critical paperwork involving the Pacific Gas and Electric Company in Hinkley, California. Like many of Soderbergh’s best films , Erin Brockovich explores the minutiae of the legal process through one character’s experiences.

Brockovich herself has admitted that the film is “probably 98 %” accurate in depicting what actually happened , although some aspects of Soderbergh’s interpretation and Roberts’ performance have been disputed. The paperwork Brockovich uncovers leads her to the home of Donna Jensen ( Marg Helgenberger ), a homeowner who turns her on to the contamination of groundwater with chromium. Although Brockovich’s initial goal was to settle Jensen’s real estate case, she uncovers evidence that PG&E has misrepresented the potentially lethal effects of the chemical on public health. While PG&E claims to Hinkley’s homeowners that they utilize a safer chemical version, the files indicate that the company uses hexavalent chromium, a chemical with carcinogenic effects.

Although she's initially let go by Masry, Brockovich is rehired by the firm and begins working on a major class action lawsuit. Brockovich begins to interview various Hinkley residents about the medical issues that they have had as a result of living in the area; while these low and middle-class residents are the subjects that are often ignored in major cases, Brockovich can lift them and give them a voice. Among the most critical of her discoveries is that the doctors employed by PG&E seem to indicate that the various medical side effects are a coincidence, and fail to draw any conclusions regarding the systematic pollution and its effect on public health. Brockovich becomes an underdog who fights to finally hold the corporation accountable for their misdeeds.

We All Slept on This Sam Esmail/Julia Roberts Watergate Series

‘erin brockovich’ depicts a real court case.

Erin Brockovich explores a real court ruling where PG&E was forced to settle with its victims . Although the class action case pointed to the fault of PG&E’s facility in Hinkley, and not its senior management, a key piece of evidence revealed towards the end of the case proved significant in the final court decision. As Brockovich reveals , the former PG&E employee Charles Embry ( Tracey Walter ) gave her critical documents that prove that PG&E’s senior board was aware of the ongoing pollution within the Hinkley area but advised the local facility to keep the crisis a secret. This evidence points to a larger conspiracy that goes beyond any negligence on the part of just one segment of the company; it’s one of the many instances in which Soderbergh uses his films to condemn the rich and powerful .

In a shocking decision that sparked national interest in Brockovich’s story, PG&E is forced to pay $333 million in damages to be equally distributed among Hinkley residents affected by the systematic pollution . Brockovich personally earned $2 million for the case, earning respect in the eyes of Masry. While the film frames its ending as happy, the aftermath of the ruling wasn’t so positive in real life . Many Hinkley residents were upset about the equal distribution of the payout, as some families had to deal with more significant medical costs and dealt with other legal issues. While the film itself succeeded in putting Hinkley under a national spotlight, the town’s population has continued to dwindle in recent years and has been described as a “ghost town.”

What Did ‘Erin Brockovich’ Make Up?

Many of Brockovich’s unique mannerisms were lifted from reality , and why the film is often cited as one of Roberts’ best roles . Brockovich's aptitude for using profanity, impressive memory, and wearing provocative clothing are all based on fact, although she disputes that this was to “distract” PG&E attendants so that she could gain access to critical documents. Similarly, the film reveals that Brockovich won a Miss Wichita beauty pageant, while in real life she won the Miss Pacific Coast competition. However, a scene where Brockovich serves PG&E residential water from Hinkley is authentically represented and makes for one of the most memorable performances in the film.

While the film represents the truth of what actually happened, the relationships between some characters were misinterpreted . While Masry was the real lawyer who mentored Roberts during their pursuit of PG&E, he was not the same attorney who represented her following her car crash; she was actually defended by his partner, Jim Vititoe . While Brockovich’s biker boyfriend, George Halaby ( Aaron Eckhart ) has a friendly relationship with her in the film, the real Halaby attempted to sue Brockovich due to an alleged affair. The character Charles Embry is based on Chuck Ebersohl; in the 2001 documentary The Erin Brockovich Story , Ebersohl admits that he and Lillian Melendez were ordered to destroy critical documents by PG&E.

Erin Brockovich is streaming on Netflix in the U.S.

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Erin Brockovich

• An unemployed single mother becomes a legal assistant and almost single-handedly brings down a California power company accused of polluting a city's water supply.
• Erin Brockovich-Ellis is an unemployed single mother, desperate to find a job, but is having no luck. This losing streak even extends to a failed lawsuit against a doctor in a car accident she was in. With no alternative, she successfully browbeats her lawyer to give her a job in compensation for the loss. While no one takes her seriously, with her trashy clothes and earthy manners, that soon changes when she begins to investigate a suspicious real estate case involving the Pacific Gas & Electric Company. What she discovers is that the company is trying quietly to buy land that was contaminated by hexavalent chromium, a deadly toxic waste that the company is improperly and illegally dumping and, in turn, poisoning the residents in the area. As she digs deeper, Erin finds herself leading point in a series of events that would involve her law firm in one of the biggest class action lawsuits in American history against a multi-billion dollar corporation. — Kenneth Chisholm <[email protected]>
• Erin Brockovich-Ellis is a woman in a tight spot. Following a car accident in which Erin is not at fault, Erin pleads with her attorney Ed Masry to hire her at his law firm. Erin stumbles upon some medical records placed in real estate files. She convinces Ed to allow her to investigate, where she discovers a cover-up involving contaminated water in a local community which is causing devastating illnesses among its residents. — Jwelch5742
• Julia Roberts stars in this legal drama based on the story of a woman who helped win the largest settlement ever paid in a direct-action lawsuit. Erin Brockovich (Roberts) is a single mother of three who, after losing a personal injury lawsuit, asks her lawyer, Ed Masry (Albert Finney), if he can help her find a job. Ed gives her work as a file clerk in his office, and she runs across some information on a little-known case filed against Pacific Gas and Electric. Erin begins digging into the particulars of the case, convinced that the facts simply don't add up, and persuades Ed to allow her to do further research; in time, she discovers a systematic cover-up of the industrial poisoning of a city's water supply, which threatens the health of the entire community.
• Desperate for work, unskilled Erin Brockovich (Julia Roberts), single parent of three, takes a relatively inconsequential job as a legal assistant in a California law firm for low wages. While organizing some paperwork pertaining to real estate cases, she is puzzled when she notices medical records in one of the files. On a whim, she does a little investigating of her own, and comes to suspect that land purchased by Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) is the same land on which chromium contamination resulted from PG&E's environmentally irresponsible actions. Examination of local water records and interviews with residents ill from exposure to poisonous chromium confirm Erin's suspicions, but pursuit of legal proceedings against PG&E would seem beyond the capabilities of the small law firm she works at. Still, Erin succeeds in making her boss, Ed Masry (Albert Finney), as passionate about the case as she is, and he takes it on. Both Ed and Erin must make great sacrifices in their lives, as the legal costs spread Ed very thin, and the round-the-clock work takes Erin out of touch with both her boyfriend and her kids. Erin's kids resent the lack of attention from her, and her attempts to explain the merits of what she is doing to her eldest son are futile ..... but, one day her eldest son happens across one of the many documents pertaining to the PG&E case. He reads of a child his own age who is very ill, and knowing that Erin's work will help this child, asks her why the child's mother cannot provide the needed help. When Erin explains that it is because the child's mother is very ill, too, her son, for the first time, appreciates the nature and importance of Erin's work. In the end, Erin's special ability to bond with the victims of chromium contaminaton and their families and Ed's legal and administrative prowess are the key ingredients to making the case against PG&E. As a team, they manage to successfully lay the groundwork for the payment of legal damages by PG&E to those harmed.

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Inspiring Triumphs: Lessons from ‘ Erin Brockovich – movie review ‘

Welcome to our ” Erin Brockovich – movie review “! In this article, we will delve into the captivating story that revolves around Erin Brockovich, a legal assistant who uncovers a corporate cover-up of toxic water contamination. Julia Roberts delivers a powerful performance in the title role, which earned her an Academy Award. Join us as we explore the inspiring triumphs and valuable lessons this film has to offer.

As we analyze and evaluate the impact of “Erin Brockovich,” we will consider various aspects, including the film’s storyline, character development, and the battle against corporate injustice. This engaging movie not only entertains but also educates viewers about the importance of perseverance, personal growth, and fighting for justice.

Erin Brockovich’s Personal Growth

When we first meet Erin Brockovich in the movie, she is a struggling single mother of three, lacking direction in her life. However, her journey takes a dramatic turn when she becomes a legal assistant for a law firm working on a case against Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E). This newfound purpose becomes a catalyst for Erin’s personal growth throughout the film.

As the story unfolds, we witness Erin’s transformation from a woman with low self-esteem to a confident and determined advocate for justice. Her experiences as a single mother and a former beauty pageant contestant play a significant role in shaping her resilience and tenacity. These qualities, combined with her unwavering determination, propel Erin to take on a leadership role in the fight against corporate greed.

Erin Brockovich’s character development serves as a powerful reminder that our past experiences can fuel our ability to make a positive impact. She proves that it’s never too late to find purpose, discover our strengths, and fight for what is right. Erin’s journey is a testament to the transformative power of personal growth and the profound effect it can have on both individuals and the world around them.

The Power of Perseverance – Erin Brockovich – movie review

Throughout the film, Erin faces numerous challenges and obstacles in her quest for justice. However, her unwavering determination and refusal to give up ultimately lead to triumph. Erin’s journey exemplifies the power of perseverance and serves as a shining example of what can be achieved when we refuse to be silenced.

Her story is a reminder that personal growth often goes hand in hand with adversity. It is through overcoming challenges that we find our true strength and potential. Erin Brockovich’s personal growth resonates with audiences, inspiring us to tap into our own inner resilience and to never lose sight of our convictions.

The Battle Against Corporate Injustice

The central conflict in “Erin Brockovich” is the legal battle between Erin and Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), a powerful corporation accused of toxic water contamination. Erin and her team face numerous challenges as they gather evidence of the company’s negligence and cover-up.

The corporation, in an attempt to protect its interests, tries to hide their wrongdoing and discredit the victims. They employ various tactics to avoid responsibility and manipulate the legal system. Unfortunately, the legal system appears to favor the corporation, making it even harder for Erin and her team to fight for justice.

Despite the obstacles, Erin’s determination, resilience, and unwavering commitment to the truth drive her legal battle against corporate injustice forward. Through collective action and the power of evidence, Erin and her team ultimately secure a groundbreaking $333 million settlement for the victims. This victory serves as a reminder that holding corporations accountable for their actions is vital for the well-being of communities and the pursuit of justice.

“Erin Brockovich” is a powerful and inspiring film based on true events  that leaves a profound impact on its viewers. It provides valuable takeaways and lessons that resonate long after the credits roll.

One of the key lessons from “Erin Brockovich” is the importance of perseverance and determination, the empowering women. Erin’s journey from a struggling single mother to a fearless advocate showcases the transformative power of finding one’s purpose and taking action. Her unwavering dedication to the cause inspires viewers to overcome obstacles and fight for what is right.

The film also highlights the significance of holding corporations accountable for their actions. “Erin Brockovich” demonstrates the devastating impact that corporate negligence can have on communities and the environment. It reminds us that we must continue to demand corporate responsibility and work towards a more just and equitable society.

In conclusion, “Erin Brockovich” is a cinematic masterpiece that imparts valuable lessons about personal growth, fighting for justice, and the need for corporate accountability. Its impact goes beyond the screen, inspiring viewers to make a positive impact in their own lives and communities. As we reflect on the takeaways from this film, let us remember the importance of perseverance, the power of collective action, and our responsibility to stand up for what is right.

* Legal drama, Julia Roberts Movies, small-town hero, true story films.

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The Movie “Erin Brockovich” was reviewed by several professional critics on their thoughts about the film. Even though this movie was very good, it still received some negative comments and reviews by some critics. The three professional critics I chose to critique the film are Christopher Null, MaryAnn Johanson, and Amy Taubin. By reviewing the comments by these critics, we will learn more about the film as well as my input as to how in my opinion the movie was.

CIVIL ACTION and any number of other verdict clones, with nearly-bankrupt attorneys who risk it all on One Big Case.” “ERIN BROCKOVICH is her movie. And while Albert Finney steals a bit of thunder as her grumpy boss, it’s Erin’s brassy, white trash, amateur investigator that makes you want to watch this movie, all 2 ½ hours of it.” Once again, This critic highlights the fact that this movie can only be like any other “clone” to lawsuit films. From his view, he makes it seem almost as if you are wasting 2 ½ hours of your life unless you look at Erin the whole time. I know that I did not “waste” my 2 ½ hours with that movie.  Even though the movie does not completely revolve around Erin, she does help to make the movie more interesting.

Another critic with her own views is MaryAnn Johanson, quite blunt, to the point at times about this movie. MaryAnn writes “Okay, I could complain about the fact that Erin, who can’t pay her phone bill at one point, barely seems to wear the same outfit twice… indeed, barely seems to wear her outfits at all. (Poor thing: she doesn’t seem to be able to afford a single blouse that actually covers her bra.) I could complain about the fact that Erin gets the information she needs, is able to dig up incriminating evidence against a $30 billion corporation due not to her not inconsiderable smarts but because, well, she behaves seductively and drops ridiculous compliments to moronic men who gape at her with their jaws on the floor. I could complain that the unfortunately depressing reality that women are still judged more by their sex appeal than by their brains and abilities…” She feels the way Erin dresses in the movie changes the situations in the movie for the better, making her get things she wants with her body. Even though the real Erin Brockovich dressed kind of provocative, the movie made it seem as if she looked like “seductive”, according to MaryAnn. I agree with her, but I wouldn’t say that she seemed like promiscuous Erin had brains, she was smart enough to use her body for good, to get what she needed. In the movie, Erin is real, she isn’t some fake girly-girl in the attorney meetings, she knew what she was doing, and she was determined to win the lawsuit, even if it took doing everything by herself. MaryAnn continues by saying “The thing that I hate about Erin Brockovich (you knew I’d find something to hate, didn’t you?) is its unironic attitude that all lawyers are cold-hearted, uncaring sharks. “Do you know why people think all lawyers are back-stabbing bloodsuckers?” Erin asks a lawyer at a big firm that Ed partners with when their PG&E case gets too overwhelming. The rhetorical question never gets answered, but I think I know why: because that’s how movies like Erin Brockovich portray them.” The stereotypes that make it seem that all lawyers are indeed “back-stabbing bloodsuckers” can come from media like that, and perhaps even through personal experiences. I definitely agree with her that the movie does answer the rhetorical question, being that media can alter, or twist things.

On the lighter note, professional critic Amy Taubin adds to criticism by leaving her two cents on the movie. According to Amy, “What’s pretty original about the picture is that it focuses an investigative drama based on a true story around a comic performance. Without Roberts’s combination of exuberance and irony, Erin Brockovich would have been a replay of the earnest A Civil Action , in which John Travolta brings suit against a big corporation that’s been dumping toxic waste in a town’s water supply. Erin Brockovich has an almost identical plot, but it’s closer in tone, and even politics, to Thelma and Louise . Outlaw humor is its survival tool. The originality too is what attracted me to the movie, it was very interesting because since we were recently learning about the subject about the chromium in the waters at Hinkley, it kept me focused into the movie.  Even though she does say that it has a similarity to the film A Civil Action , it does indeed pack a bigger punch than that movie.

Who would have thought that a woman like Erin would be a mulit-millionaire despite all her problems? In the beginning of the movie, you wouldn’t even have thought that Erin was going to be rescued from all the disaster in her life, losing her job, being behind in bills, and getting into a car accident, she wasn’t even a professional attorney, but her determination is what helped her through all the problems.

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Author:  William Anderson (Schoolworkhelper Editorial Team)

Tutor and Freelance Writer. Science Teacher and Lover of Essays. Article last reviewed: 2022 | St. Rosemary Institution © 2010-2024 | Creative Commons 4.0

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