Erin Brockovich (film)

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Erin Brockovich
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySteven Soderbergh
Written bySusannah Grant
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyEd Lachman
Edited byAnne V. Coates
Music byThomas Newman
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release date
  • March 17, 2000 (2000-03-17)
Running time
130 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$52 million
Box office$256.3 million

Erin Brockovich is a 2000 American biographical legal drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Susannah Grant.[1] The film is a dramatization of the true story of Erin Brockovich, portrayed by Julia Roberts, who initiated a legal case against the Pacific Gas and Electric Company over its culpability for the Hinkley groundwater contamination incident. The film was a box-office and critical success.

The film received five nominations at the 73rd Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director for Soderbergh, Best Original Screenplay for Grant, Best Actress for Roberts (which she won), and Best Supporting Actor for Albert Finney. Roberts also won a BAFTA award, a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and multiple critics awards.

Plot[edit]

In 1993, Erin Brockovich is an unemployed single mother of three children, who has recently been injured in a traffic accident with a doctor and is suing him. Her lawyer, Ed Masry, expects to win, but Erin's explosive courtroom behavior under cross-examination loses her the case, and Ed will not return her phone calls afterwards. One day, he arrives at work to find her in the office, apparently working. She says that he told her things would work out and they did not, and that she needed a job. Ed takes pity on Erin, and she gets a paid job at the office.

Erin is given files for a real estate case where the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is offering to purchase the home of Donna Jensen, a resident of Hinkley, California. Erin is surprised to see medical records in the file and visits Donna, who explains that she had simply kept all her PG&E correspondence together. Donna appreciates PG&E's help: she has had several tumors and her husband has Hodgkin's lymphoma, but PG&E has always supplied a doctor at their own expense. Erin asks why they would do that, and Donna replies, "because of the chromium". Erin begins digging into the case and finds evidence that the groundwater in Hinkley is seriously contaminated with carcinogenic hexavalent chromium, but PG&E has been telling Hinkley residents that they use a safer form of chromium. After several days away from the office doing this research, she is fired by Ed until he realizes that she has been working the entire time, and sees what she has found out.

Rehired, she continues her research, and over time, visits many Hinkley residents and wins their trust. She finds many cases of tumors and other medical problems in Hinkley. Everyone has been treated by PG&E's doctors and thinks the cluster of cases is just a coincidence, unrelated to the "safe" chromium. The Jensens' claim for compensation grows into a major class action lawsuit, but the direct evidence only relates to PG&E's Hinkley plant, not to the senior management.

Knowing that PG&E could slow any settlement for years through delays and appeals, Ed takes the opportunity to arrange for disposition by binding arbitration, but a large majority of the plaintiffs must agree to this. Erin returns to Hinkley and persuades all 634 plaintiffs to go along. While she is there, a man named Charles Embry approaches her to say that he and his cousin were PG&E employees, but his cousin recently died from the poison. The man says he was tasked with destroying documents at PG&E, but, "as it turns out," he "wasn't a very good employee".

Embry gives Erin the documents, which include a 1966 memo proving corporate headquarters knew the water was contaminated with hexavalent chromium, did nothing about it, and advised the Hinkley operation to keep this secret. The judge orders PG&E to pay a settlement amount of $333 million to be distributed among the plaintiffs.

In the aftermath, Ed hands Erin her bonus payment for the case but warns her he has changed the amount. She explodes into a complaint that she deserves more respect, but is astonished to find that he has increased it—to $2 million.

Cast[edit]

Production[edit]

The film was shot over eleven weeks, five weeks of that taking place in Ventura, California.[2]

Erin Brockovich performed well with test audiences but executives at Universal Studios were worried that audiences would be turned off by the title character's use of profane language.[3]

Reception[edit]

Box office[edit]

Erin Brockovich was released on March 17, 2000, in 2,848 theaters and grossed $28.1 million on its opening weekend. It had the second-highest March opening weekend upon release, after Liar Liar. This was also the second-highest opening weekend for a Julia Roberts film, behind Runaway Bride.[4] The film reached the number one spot during its first weekend, beating Mission to Mars and Final Destination.[5] It made $18.5 million while declining by 34% for its second weekend while outgrossing Romeo Must Die, Here on Earth and Whatever It Takes.[6][7] Then, Erin Brockovich collected $13.8 million in its third weekend, defeating The Road to El Dorado and The Skulls.[8] Overall, it spent a total of three weeks as the number one film until it was dethroned by Rules of Engagement.[9] The film went on to make $125.6 million in North America and $130.7 million in the rest of the world for a worldwide total of $256.3 million.[10]

Critical response[edit]

On review website Rotten Tomatoes, Erin Brockovich holds an approval rating of 85% based on 150 reviews, with an average rating of 7.50/10. The critics consensus reads, "Taking full advantage of Julia Roberts's considerable talent and appeal, Erin Brockovich overcomes a few character and plot issues to deliver a smart, thoughtful, and funny legal drama."[11] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted score of 73 out of 100 based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."[12] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[13]

In his review for The New York Observer, Andrew Sarris wrote, "We get the best of independent cinema and the best of mainstream cinema all in one package. Erin Brockovich, like Wonder Boys right before it, makes the year 2000 seem increasingly promising for movies".[14] Newsweek magazine's David Ansen began his review with, "Julia Roberts is flat-out terrific in Erin Brockovich." Furthermore, he wrote, "Roberts has wasted her effervescence on many paltry projects, but she hits the jackpot this time. Erin, single mother of three, a former Miss Wichita who improbably rallies a community to take on a multi-billion-dollar corporation, is the richest role of her career, simultaneously showing off her comic, dramatic and romantic chops".[15] Rolling Stone magazine's Peter Travers wrote, "Roberts shows the emotional toll on Erin as she tries to stay responsible to her children and to a job that has provided her with a first taste of self-esteem".[16] In his review for Entertainment Weekly, Owen Gleiberman gave the film a "B+" rating and wrote, "It's a delight to watch Roberts, with her flirtatious sparkle and undertow of melancholy, ricochet off Finney's wonderfully jaded, dry-as-beef-jerky performance as the beleaguered career attorney who knows too much about the loopholes of his profession to have much faith left in it".[17] Sight & Sound magazine's Andrew O'Hehir wrote, "Perhaps the best thing about this relaxed and supremely engaging film (for my money the best work either the director or his star has ever done) is that even its near-fairytale resolution doesn't offer a magical transformation".[18] In her review for The Village Voice, Amy Taubin wrote, "What's pretty original about the picture is that it focuses an investigative drama based on a true story around a comic performance".[19]

However, film critic Roger Ebert gave the film a two-star review, writing, "There is obviously a story here, but Erin Brockovich doesn't make it compelling. The film lacks focus and energy, the character development is facile and thin".[20] In his review for The New York Times, A.O. Scott wrote, "After proving, for about 40 minutes, what a marvelous actress she can be, Ms. Roberts spends the next 90 content to be a movie star. As the movie drags on, her performance swells to bursting with moral vanity and phony populism".[21] Time magazine's Richard Corliss found the film to be "slick, grating and false. We bet it makes a bundle".[22]

Accolades[edit]

Julia Roberts became the first actress to win an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Critics' Choice Movie Award, Golden Globe Award, National Board of Review Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award for a single performance.

Steven Soderbergh received dual nominations for Best Director that year for both Erin Brockovich and Traffic, winning the award for the latter.

Award Category Recipient(s) Result
Academy Awards[23][24][25] Best Picture Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher Nominated
Best Director Steven Soderbergh Nominated
Best Actress Julia Roberts Won
Best Supporting Actor Albert Finney Nominated
Best Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen Susannah Grant Nominated
Amanda Awards Best Foreign Feature Film Steven Soderbergh Nominated
American Film Institute Awards[26] Top 10 Movies of the Year Won
Artios Awards[27] Outstanding Achievement in Feature Film Casting – Drama Margery Simkin Nominated
Awards Circuit Community Awards Best Actress in a Leading Role Julia Roberts Runner-up
Best Actor in a Supporting Role Albert Finney Won
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards[28] Favorite Actress – Drama Julia Roberts Won
Favorite Supporting Actor – Drama Albert Finney Nominated
Favorite Supporting Actress – Drama Marg Helgenberger Nominated
BMI Film & TV Awards Film Music Award Thomas Newman Won
Bogey Awards Won
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards[29] Best Film 3rd Place
Best Director Steven Soderbergh 3rd Place
Best Actress Julia Roberts 3rd Place
Best Supporting Actor Albert Finney 3rd Place
British Academy Film Awards[30] Best Film Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher Nominated
Best Direction Steven Soderbergh Nominated
Best Actress in a Leading Role Julia Roberts Won
Best Actor in a Supporting Role Albert Finney Nominated
Best Original Screenplay Susannah Grant Nominated
Best Editing Anne V. Coates Nominated
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards[31] Best Actress Julia Roberts Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Albert Finney Nominated
Chlotrudis Awards[32] Best Supporting Actor Nominated
Costume Designers Guild Awards Excellence in Contemporary Film Jeffrey Kurland Won
Critics' Choice Movie Awards[33][34] Top 10 Films Won
Best Picture Nominated
Best Director Steven Soderbergh (also for Traffic) Won
Best Actress Julia Roberts Won
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards Top 10 Films 6th Place
Best Film Nominated
Best Actress Julia Roberts Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Albert Finney Won
Directors Guild of America Awards[35] Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures Steven Soderbergh Nominated
Edgar Allan Poe Awards[36] Best Motion Picture Susannah Grant Nominated
Empire Awards Best Actress Julia Roberts Nominated
Environmental Media Awards[37] Feature Film Won
European Film Awards[38] Screen International Award Nominated
Florida Film Critics Circle Awards[39] Best Director Steven Soderbergh (also for Traffic) Won
Golden Globe Awards[40][41][42] Best Motion Picture – Drama Nominated
Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama Julia Roberts Won
Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture Albert Finney Nominated
Best Director – Motion Picture Steven Soderbergh Nominated
Golden Reel Awards Best Sound Editing – Dialogue & ADR, Domestic Feature Film Larry Blake and Aaron Glascock Nominated
Best Sound Editing – Sound Effects & Foley, Domestic Feature Film Michael Keller Nominated
Jupiter Awards Best International Actress Julia Roberts Won
Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards[43] Best Picture Won
Best Director Steven Soderbergh (also for Traffic) Won
Best Actress Julia Roberts Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Albert Finney Nominated
Best Original Screenplay Susannah Grant and Richard LaGravenese Won
London Film Critics Circle Awards Director of the Year Steven Soderbergh Nominated
Actress of the Year Julia Roberts Won
British Supporting Actor of the Year Albert Finney Won
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards[44] Best Director Steven Soderbergh (also for Traffic) Won
Best Actress Julia Roberts Won
Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Awards[45] Best Contemporary Hair Styling in a Feature-Length Motion Picture Nominated
MTV Movie Awards Best Movie Nominated
Best Female Performance Julia Roberts Won
Best Line "Bite My Ass, Krispy Kreme" Nominated
National Board of Review Awards[46] Best Director Steven Soderbergh (also for Traffic) Won
Best Actress Julia Roberts Won
National Festival of Dubbing Voices in the Shadow Best Female Voice (Film Award) Cristina Boraschi (for dubbing Julia Roberts) Nominated
Best Female Voice (Audience Award) Won
National Society of Film Critics Awards[47][48] Best Director Steven Soderbergh (also for Traffic) Won
New York Film Critics Circle Awards[49][50] Best Director Won
Online Film & Television Association Awards[51] Best Picture Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher Nominated
Best Director Steven Soderbergh Nominated
Best Actress Julia Roberts Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Albert Finney Nominated
Best Original Screenplay Susannah Grant Nominated
Best Film Editing Anne V. Coates Nominated
Online Film Critics Society Awards[52] Top 10 Films 10th Place
Best Actress Julia Roberts Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Albert Finney Nominated
PEN Center USA West Literary Awards Best Screenplay Susannah Grant Nominated
Producers Guild of America Awards[53] Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher Nominated
Political Film Society Awards Exposé Nominated
Human Rights Nominated
San Diego Film Critics Society Awards Best Actress Julia Roberts Won[a]
Satellite Awards[54] Best Motion Picture – Drama Nominated
Best Director Steven Soderbergh Nominated
Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama Julia Roberts Nominated
Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama Albert Finney Nominated
Best Original Screenplay Susannah Grant Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Awards[55] Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role Julia Roberts Won
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role Albert Finney Won
Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards[56] Best Picture 9th Place
Teen Choice Awards Choice Movie Actress Julia Roberts Won
Writers Guild of America Awards[57] Best Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen Susannah Grant Nominated

American Film Institute recognition:

Accuracy[edit]

On her website, Brockovich says the film is "probably 98% accurate".[58] While the general facts of the story are accurate, there are some minor discrepancies between actual events and the movie, as well as a number of controversial and disputed issues more fundamental to the case. In the film, Erin Brockovich appears to deliberately use her cleavage to seduce the water board attendant to allow her to access the documents. Brockovich has acknowledged that her cleavage may have had an influence, but denies consciously trying to influence individuals in this way.[59] In the film, Ed Masry represents Erin Brockovich in the car crash case. In reality, it was his law partner, Jim Vititoe.[60] Brockovich had never been Miss Wichita; she had been Miss Pacific Coast. According to Brockovich, this detail was deliberately changed by Soderbergh as he thought it was "cute" to have her be beauty queen of the region from which she came.[59] The "not so good employee" who met Brockovich in the bar was Chuck Ebersohl. He told Erin about the documents that he and Lillian Melendez had been tasked by PG&E to destroy.[61]

George Halaby, played by Aaron Eckhart in the film, along with Brockovich's ex-husband Shawn Brown, alleged that she had an affair with Masry. They also attempted to file a lawsuit against her for $310,000.[62] Halaby was arrested and the lawyer John Jeffrey Reiner was suspended from practicing, convicted of extortion, and later disbarred.[62][63]

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Soderbergh, Steven (March 17, 2000), Erin Brockovich (Biography, Drama), Universal Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Jersey Films, retrieved March 30, 2022
  2. ^ "Hollywood Discovers Ventura County". Los Angeles Times. August 1999. Archived from the original on December 18, 2013. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
  3. ^ Willens, Michele (June 25, 2000). "Putting Films to the Test, Every Time". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 20, 2021. Retrieved March 4, 2010.
  4. ^ Harrigan, Tom (March 21, 2000). "Roberts scores big as 'Erin Brockovich'". The Associated Press. Daily Record. p. 36. Archived from the original on September 18, 2022. Retrieved September 18, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  5. ^ Goodridge (March 20, 2000). "Roberts smashes box office again". Screen Daily.
  6. ^ Welkos, Robert W. (March 28, 2000). "Weekend Box Office; 'Erin Brockovich' Holds Off 'Romeo'". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 15, 2010.
  7. ^ "Once Again, 'Brockovich' Leads the Way to Victory". Los Angeles Times. March 27, 2000.
  8. ^ Wolk, Josh (April 3, 2000). "Erin Brockovich dominates the box office for a third week". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 18, 2023.
  9. ^ "'Rules of Engagement' knocks Roberts' flick out of No. 1". The Des Moines Register. April 10, 2000. p. 6. Archived from the original on June 2, 2023. Retrieved June 2, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  10. ^ "Erin Brockovich". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on April 25, 2009. Retrieved December 5, 2008.
  11. ^ "Erin Brockovich (2000)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Archived from the original on March 20, 2021. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  12. ^ "Erin Brockovich Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on February 19, 2019. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
  13. ^ "Find CinemaScore" (Type "Erin Brockovich" in the search box). CinemaScore. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  14. ^ Sarris, Andrew (March 19, 2000). "She Doesn't Have a Résumé, but She's Got Other Assets". The New York Observer. Archived from the original on March 19, 2009. Retrieved March 4, 2010.
  15. ^ Ansen, David (March 13, 2000). "A Trash-Talking Crusader". Newsweek. Retrieved March 4, 2010.
  16. ^ Travers, Peter (February 9, 2001). "Erin Brockovich". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 5, 2008. Retrieved December 5, 2008.
  17. ^ Gleiberman, Owen (March 24, 2000). "Erin Brockovich". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on March 20, 2021. Retrieved December 5, 2008.
  18. ^ O'Hehir, Andrew (May 2000). "Erin Brockovich". Sight and Sound. Archived from the original on December 31, 2009. Retrieved March 4, 2010.
  19. ^ Taubin, Amy (March 14, 2000). "Tit for Tat". The Village Voice. Retrieved March 4, 2010.
  20. ^ Ebert, Roger (March 17, 2000). "Erin Brockovich". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved May 7, 2008.
  21. ^ Scott, A.O (March 17, 2000). "Erin Brockovich: High Ideals, Higher Heels". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 20, 2021. Retrieved December 5, 2008.
  22. ^ Corliss, Richard (March 20, 2000). "Erin Go Bra". Time. Archived from the original on July 13, 2007. Retrieved March 4, 2010.
  23. ^ "The 73rd Academy Awards (2001) Nominees and Winners". Oscars.org. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
  24. ^ Lyman, Rick (February 14, 2001). "Gladiator, Crouching Tiger and Soderbergh Are Oscar Nominees". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 20, 2021. Retrieved March 4, 2010.
  25. ^ Lyman, Rick (March 26, 2001). "Oscar Spreads the Wealth, but Gladiator Takes Top Prize; Julia Roberts Is Named Best Actress, And Russell Crowe Is Chosen Best Actor". The New York Times. Retrieved March 4, 2010.
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  41. ^ Lyman, Rick (December 22, 2000). "Gladiator and Traffic Lead Globe Nominees". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 20, 2021. Retrieved March 4, 2010.
  42. ^ Lyman, Rick (January 22, 2001). "Surprises but No Dominator at the Golden Globes". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 20, 2021. Retrieved March 4, 2010.
  43. ^ "Previous Sierra Award Winners". lvfcs.org. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
  44. ^ "The 26th Annual Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards". Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  45. ^ Wethington, Jessica (March 11, 2001). "Guild honors work in hair and makeup". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  46. ^ "2000 Award Winners". National Board of Review. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  47. ^ "Past Awards". National Society of Film Critics. December 19, 2009. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  48. ^ Cardwell, Diane (January 7, 2001). "Critics Group Honors Quirky List of Film Favorites". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 24, 2021. Retrieved March 4, 2010.
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  50. ^ Holden, Stephen (December 14, 2000). "'Traffic' Captures Awards From New York Film Critics". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 20, 2021. Retrieved February 11, 2009.
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  54. ^ "International Press Academy website – 2001 5th Annual SATELLITE Awards". Archived from the original on February 1, 2008.
  55. ^ "The 7th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards". Screen Actors Guild Awards. Archived from the original on November 1, 2011. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
  56. ^ "2000 SEFA Awards". sefca.net. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
  57. ^ "Writers Guild Awards Winners". WGA. 2010. Archived from the original on May 25, 2012. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
  58. ^ "Erin Brockovich – The Movie". Erin Brockovich. Archived from the original on March 20, 2021. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
  59. ^ a b "Chasing the Frog – Erin Brockovich – Questioning the Story". Chasing the Frog. Retrieved December 5, 2008.
  60. ^ Masry & Vititoe – Erin Brockovitch resumé Archived February 12, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  61. ^ Brockovich, Erin (2002). Take It From Me Life's a Struggle But You Can Win. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0071383790.
  62. ^ a b "Erin Brockovich: jury out on the details". TheGuardian.com. February 28, 2013. Archived from the original on March 20, 2021. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
  63. ^ "What Erin Brockovich did next". TheGuardian.com. December 10, 2001. Retrieved May 10, 2020.

External links[edit]