Movie Review: Erin Brockovich
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What Parents Should Know
The movie's R rating comes from very strong language and
some sexual references (Erin jokes that she got the cooperation
of the town's residents by performing sexual favors). And no
matter how high the settlement, the fact remains that children
and their families were made terribly ill, and no amount of
money will make up for that.
Families who watch this movie should 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?
Common Sense Media Review
The poster says, "She brought a small town to its feet and a
huge company to its knees." So we know where it's all going,
and just settle back to enjoy the ride. And an enjoyable ride
it is, too.
The guy who deserves next year's best acting Oscar is
the actor who has the impossible job of playing a doctor who is
interviewing single mother Erin Brockovich (Julia Roberts) for
a job and is not utterly charmed by her. The audience has no
such obligation, and we lose our hearts immediately.
Erin leaves that interview, climbs into her crummy car,
and gets slammed into by another doctor. When she loses her
lawsuit against him, she forces the lawyer who represented her
to give her a job (Albert Finney as Ed Masry). 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 and
gets interested in a real estate file that includes medical
records, and she goes off to investigate.
It turns out that the community of Hinkley has been
poisoned by hexavent chromium, leaching into the drinking water
from a PG&E plant. Erin is able to gain the trust of the
community and help Ed put together a case that would win the
largest direct claim settlement in American history.
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 everthing from her cleavage to her baby to get
access to the records she needs.
Families who enjoy this movie will also enjoy Sally Fields' Oscar-winning performance in "Norma Rae."
Common Sense Media is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing information to help parents make media and entertainment choices for their families.
