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Erin Brockovich - Based on a true story
2000 - Director: Steven Sonderbergh - Starring Julia Roberts as Erin Brockovich

 

I'm not necessarily against unrealistic movies.
Not necessarily.
As long as they are properly acted and directed,
entertain me,
have a story,
make me think about it.

Well, this movie does entertain me.

The actors are brilliant, too.
Julia Roberts got an Oscar for her performance,
I have great respect for her!
(I never thought this could ever happen.)

And the movie also has a story. I like the plot already:
Single mother forces environment-polluting energy supplier to his knees.

Being a campaigner for the environment myself, I do like it, of course,
to see such a big company that is messing around with the environment get a real ticking-off.

Though I think it's a little bit unrealistic that a single mother without
educational qualifications can manage that. But that's what the script says:

Erin Brockovich, hardly able to support her children,
becomes the victim of a car accident through no fault of her own,
loses her case because she can't keep her mouth shut.
Is angry with her lawyer because he wasn't able to prevent that,
pledges, urges him, after having searched for a job unsuccessfully, to employ her as a temp.
Sorting files in his office, she comes across strange coincidences,
discovers an environment scandal,
convinces the lawyer to sue them,
collects evidence and statements of those concerned ...

... forces those responsible for the environment scandal in kind of an agreement
to pay damages worth the incredible sum of $333 million.

Absolutely unrealistic!

Don't get me wrong: The movie's great!

But also unrealistic. That's what comes to your mind when you watch it.

Even more amazing is the fact that it obviously really happened like that.

When asked in a chat on www.erinbrockovich.com,
whether there were major differences between the movie
and the facts, Erin Brockovich answered:

"No."

In this case, well, Erin Brockovich is something like a heroine, a saint even!
Suddenly 'Erin' sounds like 'Robin' and you almost want to say about Erin Brockovich
what Einstein once said about Ghandi:

"Generations to come will scarce believe
that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth."

Upon this earth, where actually only one thing counts:

money.

Which 'for God's sake' doesn't count for Erin.

Really?

Didn't the law office give her eventually a cheque worth,
let's see, $2 million?
Rumour has it that in reality it was even $2.5 million.
Which is actually peanuts in comparison to the $134 million that the law office raked in ...

And anyway, the production of such a movie wouldn't have been feasible without money, either.
Production expenses amounted to $51 million,
which, then again, is peanuts in comparison to the $256.5 million that it brought in.

Julia Roberts allegedly earns about $20 million per movie ...

... but I'm sure the real Erin Brockovich is much less greedy.

...

Not any longer:

Erin Brockovich is famous now, quickly wrote a book and delights
the world with lectures and speeches. 93 times in 18 months.
According to a Los Angeles Times article from 24th of March 2002, for a fee of

25,000 Dollars each.

At this point, it is reality what makes me think, more than the movie.

I imagine Erin Brockovich as a highly paid employee in an
energy supplying company, that pollutes the environment ...

 

Official homepage: http://www.erinbrockovich.com/
Internet movie data base:
www.imdb.com/Title?0195685 (rating: 7.5/10)


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