Erin Brockovich – The Anti-heroine Everyone Needs

Erin Brockovich is a legal drama based on the true story of a woman who helped win the largest settlement ever paid in a class action lawsuit in America.

Steven Soderbergh directed the film and Julia Roberts received the highest salary ever paid to a female film star at the time. The film received five Oscar nominations at the 73rd Academy Awards.

Erin’s story is about a single mother of three. After losing a personal injury lawsuit, she asks lawyer Ed Masry (Albert Finney) if he can help her find a job. As a case officer, she finds some information about a little-known case brought against Pacific Gas and Electric . Thus, she begins to examine the details of the case, convinced that the facts simply do not match.

Finally, Erin discovers a systematic cover-up of a very dangerous practice : Industrial poisoning of a city’s water supply, which threatens the health of an entire community. The film dives into Erin’s personal struggle to find justice for people who did not even know they needed it.

“We must be our own superheroes.”

– Erin Brockovich –

Erin Brockovich, an unexpected anti-heroine

Erin Brockovich has been divorced twice and is raising her three children alone, and she is having a hard time finding a job. She has no diploma, speaks a language that is not compatible with the formal sphere, and her high heels are longer than her skirts. She becomes the heroine in a poisoning scandal from a large and powerful electricity company. The actress takes the eponymous role in the film and injects all the energy and power she needs into the character. Her achievements are worthy of a real star, one that makes this production a resounding success.

The film tells the true life story of the somewhat grumpy former beauty queen, who is somewhat hard to believe. As a low-paid employee of a small law firm, she managed to build a huge legal case over polluted water. The settlement of USD 333 million (approx. NOK 3.3 billion) that must be paid by Pacific Gas & Electric is the largest in US history.

However, Susannah Grant’s screenplay moves away from the courts and judges’ rooms. The film focuses on a woman’s journey of self-discovery triggered by a passionate belief that she must help correct a serious mistake. This is because the plaintiffs are people like her. Hardworking people whose well-being is threatened by indifference and contempt.

A life-changing traffic accident

Erin is involved in a car accident due to recklessness from another driver, and it leaves her with some muscular consequences. When she loses the case against the other driver, she pressures her lawyer Ed Masry (Albert Finney) to hire her to work for the law firm in Los Angeles. She is not very enthusiastic about the rest of her colleagues, as they are uncomfortable with the way she dresses and her language. Despite everything, Erin is good at her job.

She comes across some journals that confuse her while organizing a file. In fact, she uncovered a water supply poisoning in the Mojave Desert in California and a cover-up of PG&E. Brockovich is starting to notice some strange things regarding Pacific Gas and Electric’s offers to homeowners in Hinkley.

Thus, she continues to investigate and visit municipal water archives to see if the groundwater in the area may have been contaminated with hexavalent chromium. Her logic: It’s probably related to the horrible diseases that the people of Hinkley suffer from.

Erin Brockovich, family mother and ready for anything

After leaving her children with her boyfriend, who is a motorcyclist named George (Aaron Eckhart), Erin travels hundreds of kilometers in her frail car to visit potential victims. Thus, she gets an emotional bond to many of the people who are affected by this situation. Most of them are humble, vulnerable and worried about their families. From the beginning, they are friendly towards Erin and give her confidence with their personal stories.

The relationship between Erin and her boss Finney is central to the story. Furthermore, the love-hate relationship between these two characters from two different generations gives the film a comic feel.

Still, the depth of the relationship between them is clear throughout the film. He is aware of Erin’s great family burden, so he accepts her behavior. He notices her authenticity and risk-taking nature. She is just as he would be, but does not allow himself to be.

A fascinating, yet sober film

Finally, the film is an aggressive and linear reality-based drama about a low-income mother. Soderbergh delivered a film that many groups recognized: audiences, critics and film festivals. He himself was his own main competitor for the Oscar for best director. He lost it to Erin Brockovich, but won it for the movie Traffic.

The film shows some of the motifs that recur in his previous work as a director, such as an interest in the disturbing nature of large companies, female independence and individual and collective capacity for self-awareness and learning. It is clear, however, that Soderbergh dampened his experimental inclination, taking the less-is-more approach to naturalism and the brilliance of all achievements.