Erin Brockovich (2000)

An unemployed single mother becomes a legal assistant and almost single-handedly brings down a California power company accused of polluting a city's water supply.

Director:

Steven Soderbergh

Writer:

Susannah Grant

Stars:

Julia Roberts, Albert Finney, David Brisbin

Won 1 Oscar. Another 31 wins & 58 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Julia Roberts	...	Erin Brockovich
David Brisbin	...	Dr. Jaffe
Dawn Didawick	...	Rosalind
Albert Finney	...	Ed Masry
Valente Rodriguez	...	Donald
Conchata Ferrell	...	Brenda
George Rocky Sullivan	...	Los Angeles Judge
Pat Skipper	...	Defending Lawyer
Jack Gill	...	Defendant
Irene Olga López	...	Mrs. Morales
Emily Marks	...	Beth (8 months)
Julie Marks	...	Beth (8 months)
Scotty Leavenworth	...	Matthew
Gemmenne de la Peña	...	Katie (as Gemmenne De la Peña)
Erin Brockovich-Ellis	...	Waitress

Storyline

Erin Brockovich-Ellis is an unemployed single mother, desperate to find a job, but is having no luck. This losing streak even extends to a failed lawsuit against a doctor in a car accident she was in. With no alternative, she successfully browbeats her lawyer to give her a job in compensation for the loss. While no one takes her seriously, with her trashy clothes and earthy manners, that soon changes when she begins to investigate a suspicious real estate case involving the Pacific Gas & Electric Company. What she discovers is that the company is trying quietly to buy land that was contaminated by hexavalent chromium, a deadly toxic waste that the company is improperly and illegally dumping and, in turn, poisoning the residents in the area. As she digs deeper, Erin finds herself leading point in a series of events that would involve her law firm in one of the biggest class action lawsuits in American history against a multi-billion dollar corporation.

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Plot Keywords:

environmental issue | contamination | working single mother | corporate crime | lawsuit | 

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Taglines:

She brought a small town to its feet and a huge corporation to its knees.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 March 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Erin Brockovich - Forte come la verità

Filming Locations:

Santa Ventura Studios - 5301 North Ventura Avenue, Ventura, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$52,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$28,138,465, 19 March 2000, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$125,595,205

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$256,271,286

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures,Columbia Pictures Corporation,Jersey Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

131 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS (8 channels)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The real Erin Brockovich-Ellis actually got sick from the chromium poisoning she was investigating. Steven Soderbergh decided to leave that aspect out of the film as it would make Erin out to be too much of a martyr.

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Goofs

In the accident, Erin's car is seen being hit broadside by the doctors car obviously running though a red light while she was driving straight across the intersection, but in the telling of the accident in court Erin says that he came around the corner, out of control, as she was "slowly pulling out" of her parking space. In the visual, the doctor is clearly the guilty party but in Erin's courtroom testimony it appears that Erin pulled out of her parking space unsafely into the path of an oncoming cornering car.

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Quotes

Donna Jensen: You're a lawyer?
Erin Brockovich: NO, no... I hate lawyers. I only work for them.

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Crazy Credits

The Young and the Restless (1973) and Wheel of Fortune (1975): Courtesy of Columbia TriStar Television.

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Alternate Versions

In the TV version aired on NBC, it mutes the several uses of the f-word [usually changing it from f*cking to freaking, or sometimes even cutting out the line[s] of dialogue]. It also, to supposedly make up for lost time during editing, adds a scene not shown on the theatrical or home video version of the film [although it was added as a deleted scene in the DVD]: Erin goes out to her car after storming into the office and shouting at Ed. She feels still feels very sick and then faints. It lands her in the hospital where George comes to visit [explaining why George would come and take care of Erin's kids while she went to get the signatures]. Ed also comes to visit and pleads her to not make stunts like she did again. Erin apologizes and says she's coming to the town meeting, sick or not.

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Connections

Referenced in The Dialogue: An Interview with Screenwriter Susannah Grant (2007)

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Soundtracks

Two Shots Of Rye
Written by Paul Kerr & Andy Dewar
Courtesy of Opus 1

User Reviews

Julia Roberts' best movie

This movie may have changed my opinion of Julia Roberts. I have never like her acting, and the media's portrayal of her as some sort of beauty queen in the 80's (and she has never been a very attractive woman) only made it worse. But she did an excellent job in this story, seemingly portraying the real Erin Brockovich with perfection.

Great story, maybe a little hard to believe though if you didn't know it was true. But everything was very well done. All the characters were good. One bad thing is that they seem to have cut some scenes out to speed it up? Some of the scene transitions were downright bizarre and there was no logic behind. But other than that, no real complaints.

One thing I'd like to point out to people before they watch this is that Erin Brockovich is not a very likable person. She's profane, crude, obnoxious, rude, and treats everyone around her, especially those who are better educated, like garbage. She always had trouble finding and keeping a job and she always blamed it on her lack of education and experience. That wasn't it. It was her attitude.