#ThrowbackThursday
#Netflix
Language – English
Year of release – 2000
Cast – Julia Roberts as Erin Brockovich, Albert Finney as Edward Masry, Aaron Eckhart as George
Trigger warning – Foul language
Plot – This is a true story based on Erin Brockovich a single, out of work, mother to three children. During her trying to get through job interviews, she meets with an accident. She sues the driver of the car who happens to be a successful doctor and hires Edward Masry to be her lawyer. She loses this case although Edward says he can get this case tied up and reward her for her medical expenses she incurred. But at the hearing, Erin loses her cool and ends up blowing up her chances of a fair settlement for the accident.
Erin is back searching for jobs and lands up at Edwards law firm. During the course of her learning the ropes in the company, she is assigned a real estate file and asked to follow up on that case. When she reads through the documents, she comes across some medical reports and goes to meet with the owner of the property who is involved with the sale of their property to Pacific Gas & Electric Company. Donna Jensen, the owner of the property and her husband have multiple health issues and when Erin asks her about it, Donna mentions that it was because of the chromium in the water.
Erin starts digging deeper and realises that the PG&E Company have been illegally dumping a hexavalent chromium that is lethal and carcinogenic. And this had contaminated the ground water across the town of Hinkley. PG&E on their part convinced the residents that the chromium was not harmful and also set up a health care plan for the residents with doctors who were paid by PG&E. Erin realises that this is a large scale case and forces Edward to take up the case for the sake of the residents who are all dying of cancers and lymphomas. Edward, grudgingly takes on the case and they along with another partner firm take up the case in the court.
George who happens to be a biker and a neighbour of Erin, helps her with babysitting her children and develops a relationship with Erin. Which over the course of a year starts to wear thin thanks to her dogged pursuit of information and details regarding the contamination and its effects.
Finally, at the end of all of the chasing and scrambling and hustling, Edward’s firm finally manage to take the case to the court and the trial begins. Do the residents continue their fight, do they give up? Do they get a fair share of audience at the trial and speak for themselves? How does this case turn out for Edward and Erin? Go forth and watch it on Netflix, if you haven’t already!
This movie is special to me for a few reasons. Erin’s attitude and her style statements! Julia Roberts as Erin is absolutely delightful! She is an amazing actor who brings Erin to life in her totality! Erin dresses in very provocative clothes and many times gets written off as not someone who can be taken seriously only for the clothes she wears. And her response to it, she is most comfortable in those clothes and she believes that the clothes make her look beautiful! And time and again, she proves that she is more than the clothes she wears. She has the brains and the humanity in her to be able to get whatever she is after. She is a woman who calls a spade a spade and doesn’t allow anyone to mess with her. Her attitude overtakes everything!
Albert Finney as Edward Masry is another gem! You love the man and how he turns out for Erin. Guiding her, taking her seriously and trusting her over everything else is what great bosses are all about. And this man displays it in full bloom!
I had watched this movie in the early 2000’s and rewatched it again recently and realised that nothing had changed for me between then and now. This is was a brilliant film on the corruption of corporations at the cost of human lives and we see that happening all over again even today. Women, even today are not taken seriously if they choose to dress a certain way. Everything about them is a judgement until they conform. The fight is pretty much the same in every aspect. Single parenthood, layered with not being employed full time for the sake of the children, not being able to afford decent day care facilities that will allow you to work fully without worrying how the children are doing. Being a woman also brings with it the additional responsibility of proving your worth at every step of the way. From explaining leave absences to putting in the extra hours at work. Nothing comes easy and is riddled with hurdles at every step of the way. So the fight continues even today!
I loved the movie then, I love it now too! A 10/10 movie for me!
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