The Task: Watch and write about every movie on my shelf, in order (Blu-rays are sorted after DVDs), by June 10, 2015. Remaining movies: 279 Days to go: 270
Movie #98: Erin Brockovich
That was Joe Reid, the Entertainment Editor for The Wire, tweeting truth about Erin Brockovich — one of Steven Soderbergh’s most successful, yet least revered, films. (And before you go noting that Soderbergh was nominated for a Best Director Oscar for Erin Brockovich the same year he won for directing Traffic, I’ll point out that politics and popularity come into play concerning Oscar nominations and wins a lot more than AMPAS would like you to believe, and that Soderbergh managed not to split votes with himself and lose out to Ang Lee (probably the most deserving nominee, for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) or Ridley Scott (for Best Picture winner Gladiator) in part because, given the choice, nobody would vote for Soderbergh’s direction of Erin Brockovich over his work on Traffic. It just wasn’t going to happen. Ever.) Erin Brockovich is — a lot like its title character — outspoken and flip and not overly artful, but, man, does it get the job done.
Julia Roberts is phenomenal as Brockovich — a tough, uncultured woman fighting to get by who elbows her way into a job, stumbles across some shady dealings between Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) and the town of Hinkley, CA, and by sheer force of personality and will, helps bring about “the largest settlement every paid in a direct-action lawsuit in U.S. history.” Say what you will, not every actress can play bold and brash the way Roberts can. Just as she did in Pretty Woman, she manages to portray someone who stands out and rubs everyone the wrong way and makes people uncomfortable, but who wins people over and clearly has a huge, loving, generous heart. That’s a difficult balance to achieve. And it’s right in Roberts’s wheelhouse.
Of course, Hollywood loves true stories like this, the little guy beating out the big, bad corporation, and the film is definitely engineered to be a crowd-pleaser. But what I love about it is how honestly it portrays the struggle of a single mother. Single mothers get put on pedestals when their child grows up to be a famous athlete or something, but a lot of times they’re vilified — never overtly, but politically and societally. Erin Brockovich’s story isn’t all that different from a lot of women’s: She got married and had a baby when she was young, her husband leaves her with a couple of kids and she has no education or work experience to get herself a job — not one that’s going to pay her enough to cover her bills, at least. She can’t afford insurance or child care, and she has no benefits. So how is a woman like that supposed to survive? The movie sets her up as someone to be admired for her perseverance and gumption and “bootstrap” mentality, but in the real world very few employers will give you a chance based on your word, and even fewer will see your value to a company when you don’t necessarily play by the same social rules as everyone else, even if you get more work done, and do it better, than anyone else on the team. People make their assumptions about you, and it’s really hard to change them. Even Ed (Albert Finney) tells Erin in the film, “Look, I’m sorry but you were gone for a week. I assumed you were off having fun.” She responds, “Oh, and why the hell would you assume that?” Unfortunately, we don’t always get to challenge someone else’s assumptions about us.
The movie doesn’t just deal with how hard it is to get and keep a job, though, it also addresses how hard it is to find and keep a relationship, and all the stigmas attached with it. Because Erin’s been divorced not once but twice, she’s clearly perceived by those around her as some sort of low-class floozy, as if she chose for her husbands to leave her. And when she meets George (Aaron Eckhart), he initially bucks the trend of men in her life by embracing her work and her kids, but when the pressures of the PG&E case take too much of a toll on her time and her health and her state of mind, he caves. He scolds her for her attitude and tries multiple times to guilt her into quitting, and when she asks him to stay to prove he’s not like the others, he leaves anyway. So not only is she at fault when she can’t provide for her family, she’s also at fault when the job that allows her to provide for them keeps her away from them too long. It’s a no-win game for her — for lots of women — but she’s forced to play it regardless.
Of course there are lots of references to her looks or her using them to her advantage, but whether you buy into that or not — whether you find her brazenness distasteful or not — you can’t argue with the passion with which she fought for her clients (featuring some nice work in small roles by Marg Helgenberger and Cherry Jones) and her obvious sacrifices in order to do right by them. Roberts never lets you forget that. “That’s my work, my sweat, my time away from my kids! If that’s not personal, then I don’t know what is!”
If I had to guess, I would say a lot of people remember Erin Brockovich for the lines. “They’re called boobs, Ed.” “That’s all you got, lady. Two wrong feet in fucking ugly shoes.” “Do they teach beauty queens to apologize? Because you suck at it.” There are some great ones, as well as quite a few powerful monologues, but the truth of the matter is there’s a lot more to it than that. This is Julia’s movie, through and through, and she owns every single scene with defiance and audaciousness and fierce commitment. No other Oscar nominee put that much vitality and magnetism into her role that year, which is why she won. Plus, she wore that gorgeous vintage Valentino with the pleated train. High class or less so, the woman knows how to own it.
Viable Option 