Erin Brockovich: The Anti-heroin Everyone Needs

Erin Brockovich – Strong as the Truth is a film based on the true story of a woman who helped to secure the largest ever paid financial deal in a direct action lawsuit in the United States of America.

Steven Soderbergh masterfully directed the film, and Julia Roberts earned the highest salary so far for an actress. The film received five Oscar nominations in the 73rd Academy Awards.

Erin Brockovich is a single mother with three children. After losing a personal injury lawsuit, she asks her attorney Ed Masry, played by Albert Finney, to help her find work. She becomes the secretary of a law firm dealing with a little-known case against the Pacific Gas & Electric Company. Erin begins to investigate the details of the case, convinced that there is something wrong with it.

Over time, he discovers the cover-up of a very dangerous practice: the poisoning of the aquifers of an American citizen that threatens the health of the entire community. The film tells us about Erin Brockovich’s personal struggle to do justice to those who didn’t even know they needed it.

Erin Brockovich, the anti-heroin nobody expects

Erin Brockovich, twice divorced, in debt and with three children to raise, struggles to find work. She doesn’t have a diploma, speaks in a non-formal way, and wears stiletto heels that are longer than her skirts.

This woman will be able to unearth a scandal related to the poisoning of the aquifers of an entire town by a large and powerful electricity company. Julia Roberts gives the character all the energy and energy she needs to deal with this situation. Thanks to his outstanding performance, the film was a resounding success.

It tells a true story, even if it is difficult to believe. Erin Brockovich, a former beauty queen, a bit grumpy and a low-wage clerk in a small law firm, manages to file a huge lawsuit for groundwater poisoning. The $333 million deal with Pacific Gas & Electric Company is the largest in the history of the United States of America .

The script, however, stays away from courtrooms and judges. The film focuses mainly on a woman’s journey of self-discovery that starts from the belief that she has to correct a serious mistake. The plaintiffs are people like her: struggling workers whose well-being is threatened by the indifference and contempt of the big American company.

A car accident that changes her life

Due to the unconsciousness of another driver, Erin has a car accident that causes damage to her muscles. When he loses his personal injury lawsuit, he blackmails his attorney Ed Masry, played by Albert Finney, into hiring him at his Los Angeles law firm. Her co-workers, uncomfortable with her clothing and speech, don’t like Erin very much. Despite this, he throws himself headlong into his new job.

Erin finds some medical records that arouse suspicion in her. He discovers a poisoning of the aquifers in the Mojave desert (California) and a cover-up by the great American company. He also notes some odd offers from the Pacific Gas & Electric Company to homeowners in Hinkley.

So he decides to investigate the municipal water archives to find out if the aquifers may have been contaminated by hexavalent chromium. If so, that would explain the diseases that Hinkley residents suffer from.

Erin Brockovich, a mother ready for anything

Erin leaves her children with her boyfriend, a biker named George (played by Aaron Eckhart), to drive hundreds of miles in his ramshackle car to visit potential victims. During visits, make an emotional connection with these people. They are humble, vulnerable and concerned about what is happening to their families. Right from the start, they all show kindness to Erin and, trusting her, they tell her their personal stories.

At the heart of the story is the relationship between Erin and her boss Ed Masry. The love-hate relationship between these two characters who belong to different generations gives the film much of its comic aspect.

The entire film is imbued with the depth of the relationship between Erin and the lawyer. He is aware of Erin’s great family burden and accepts her way of doing things. He sees in her truth, courage and risk, what he would like to be, but is unable to be.

An engaging and light film at the same time

The film also tells us about the real drama of a mother who lives on a very low income. Soderbergh created a film that everyone liked: audiences, critics and film festivals. And while she didn’t win the Best Director award for Erin Brockovich – Strong as Truth , she did it with Traffic .

The film shows us some recurring themes in the works of this director: the interest in the sinister nature of large societies, female independence and the individual and collective capacity for self-awareness and learning. In this film, however, Soderbergh has curbed his penchant for experimentation by preferring an approach in which less is more (as opposed to naturalism and the genius of all his other works).