Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Erin Brockovich Blu-ray Movie Review

"I Hate Lawyers. I Just Work for 'Em."

Reviewed by Michael Reuben May 29, 2012

The story of Erin Brockovich-Ellis (as she's now known) seems tailor-made for the movies. The heroine is bold, brash and memorable. She goes from obscurity, debt and near-starvation to success and respectability, and she does so by helping others in a classic David-and-Goliath struggle (or "David and what's-his-name", as she says in the film). And the villain of the piece isn't just a big corporation going about its business, but the entire world of conventional wisdom that assumes "little" people should behave and do as they're told.

By the time the film was released in 2000, Brockovich had already established herself as an effective investigator of toxic torts with her work for California lawyer Ed Masry on behalf of the residents of Hinkley, California, against Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E). The film, based on that case, so burnished her credentials that a cottage industry arose of experts devoted to debunking Brockovich's work against PG&E and her reputation in general. Even though PG&E was still subject to a clean-up order from California for the Hinkley pollution, articles appeared regularly urging that PG&E shouldn't have had to pay large sums to the town's inhabitants. One epidemiologist generated a Washington Post article in 2010 arguing that the cancer rate in Hinkley was perfectly normal. The article has been much cited, but it's no longer available in the Post's online archive. Maybe someone figured out that this particular epidemiologist, who was something of a crusader, achieved his results by factoring in all forms of cancer, including those not associated with the hexavalent chromium discharged by PG&E into the ground water. But I digress.

Efforts to undermine Brockovich only serve to highlight the magnitude of what she and Masry accomplished in the PG&E case. Toxic tort cases are notoriously difficult to prove, because the essential element of causation is so hard to demonstrate (a point stressed by the low-level functionary initially dispatched by PG&E in the film with a low-ball offer). Brockovich and Masry assembled a sufficiently compelling case that PG&E settled for large sums, whereas initially they were offering little more than nuisance value. To put it differently: Brockovich and Masry forced PG&E to take the Hinkley residents seriously.

At bottom, that's what Erin Brockovich is about, and the theme is so thoroughly realized that the film will remain compelling long after any controversy over PG&E's actions has disappeared. Julia Roberts won the best actress Oscar for her portrayal of the title character, and contrary to what some dissenters voiced at the time, the award wasn't a sop to a reigning box office champ. The role required Roberts to stretch in ways that no part has before or since. Among other things, she had to risk being thoroughly dislikeable, forgoing the thousand-watt smile (for the most part) and the infectious laugh in exchange for a foul mouth and a bulldozing ruthlessness about getting what her character wanted no matter who stood in her way.

The core of Erin Brockovich is the volatile partnership between Erin (Roberts) and her employer, Ed Masry (Albert Finney, who has never been better). "I really hate you sometimes, I really do", Masry says to her, just after they've met with PG&E's flunky from the claims department, and it's dawned on Masry that Erin has landed him in a tough, risky battle. But he's laughing as he says it. Masry wouldn't have become a plaintiff's lawyer if he didn't enjoy a good fight.

Erin meets Masry when she retains him to sue an ER doctor who slammed his Jaguar into her car as she was leaving a disappointing job interview. It's a small case in the scheme of things, but not to Erin, who incurred major debt for her medical treatment. When the case goes badly (whether through Erin's poor behavior or Masry's lack of preparation is unclear), Erin pressures him into giving her a job as a legal assistant. The other women in Masry's office immediately resent her for her provocative attire and pushy attitude.

The turning point in Erin's life comes by pure chance. She's given a box of papers for what's described as a pro bono real estate matter and told to organize them. When no one can be bothered to explain to her why files for land sales in the small town of Hinkley are full of medical records (and it's a good question), she makes her own inquiries and discovers why PG&E is trying to buy up all the homes in Hinkley: The ground water is contaminated with hexavalent chromium, an anti-corrosion agent used in cleaning the cooling towers at PG&E's nearby compressor station—and also a known carcinogen. Sure enough, many current and former residents of Hinkley are suffering from cancer and other ailments.

After a bumpy start (Masry thinks she's been goofing off and fires her), Erin and Masry sue PG&E. Erin becomes the principal researcher, as well as friend and liaison to the Hinkley plaintiffs. The same "unprofessional" style that so offends the staff in Masry's office is an asset in Hinkley, where the quickest way to alienate people is to act like a typical lawyer. When Masry brings on big time co-counsel (Peter Coyote and Veanne Cox) to share the labor and the financial burden of a contingency case (because the attorneys advance all costs), the new lawyers make the mistake of trying to bypass Erin. The people in Hinkley react badly and are on the verge of bolting from the case, until Masry and Erin call a town meeting and Masry lets Erin go door to door to restore their faith.

The film doesn't skimp on showing the personal toll exacted by Erin's commitment to the cause and the long hours she spends collecting information and maintaining client loyalties. The most obvious casualty is her relationship with her latest boyfriend, the biker George (Aaron Eckhart), but that's hardly a surprise. Erin's early resistance to George, not to mention her two failed marriages, makes it immediately obvious that she isn't the sort of person to sacrifice career opportunities for the sake of a relationship. Whether or not one approves of that attitude, it's a quality Erin shares with plenty of men. But the more poignant price is the one paid by her own children, which becomes clear when Erin's son, Matthew (Scotty Leavenworth), asks why his mom has to look out for a kid from Hinkley. Why can't the kid's own mom do it? Erin gives an answer that appears to satisfy Matthew, but she herself isn't wholly satisfied.

The script by Susannah Grant and the direction by Steven Soderbergh (both Oscar-nominated) do a fine job of paring down the complexities of mass toxic tort litigation to the essentials so that they can get to the film's real story, which is Erin's determination to speak up on behalf of powerless people who are pushed around. (It's payback for all the times when Erin has felt the same way.) A lot of lawyers, especially plaintiffs' lawyers, started out with the same ideal, but it often disappears with age, routine and the practical necessities of running a business. Ed Masry was obviously a firebrand once, and working with Erin reconnects him with that part of himself. It's that shared passion that allows these otherwise wildly dissimilar individuals to work well together.

The most famous scenes in the film are the ones where Erin tells off somebody—whether PG&E's lawyers or her own officious co-counsel—but the best scenes are those between Erin and Masry, as they go from being strangers who find each other incomprehensible to partners who play off each other's strengths. Even in confrontations with third parties, the funniest sight in the frame is usually Masry's face, because Albert Finney (also Oscar-nominated) so thoroughly grasped the dynamic of their partnership that he's able to show every flicker of Masry's reaction to Erin's profanity-laced tirades. More often than not, he can barely restrain the laughter. It's fitting that the final exchange of the film involves Masry getting even for all the times Erin has balled him out, right back to when he represented her in the traffic accident case. As he builds to his conclusion with the practiced ease of an experienced cross-examiner, you can see Masry savoring every second, and when he's finished, he practically dances out of the room. And why not? He's just done the impossible. He's left Erin Brockovich speechless.

Erin Brockovich Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Universal previously released Erin Brockovich on HD DVD. Reliable sources have determined that Universal performed a new transfer for this 1080p, VC-1-encoded Blu-ray, with the "look" approved by director Steven Soderbergh. The film was the last of Soderbergh's on which he used an independent cinematographer, Ed Lachman, who shot Soderbergh's previous film, The Limey. Lachman is especially skilled at a highly stylized, artificial appearance, which is why he's a favorite collaborator of Todd Haynes (most recently on HBO's Mildred Pierce), but for Erin Brockovich, he maintained a more realistic look in keeping with the "true story" element of the film. The notable exception is the pervasive sickly yellow tint in the Hinkley scenes, which suggests the inescapable taint in the environment.

Detail is quite good, as are black levels. Where the transfer suffers is in minor but pervasive sharpening that detracts from the film-like appearance one expects from the best Blu-rays. The sharpening isn't so severe as to create obvious edge halos, but it does make the image appear more digital and "processed" than it should. Nor does the sharpening appear to be an attempt to compensate for detail lost through noise reduction or high frequency filtering, since plenty of fine detail remains. Rather, it looks like a bad habit left over from an older generation of telecine colorists, whose practices were developed for DVD and smaller viewing screens than are found in the average home theater today. I don't think the issue is serious enough to warrant recommending against the disc, but it's enough to merit comment. Whether this processing is part of what Soderbergh approved or whether it was applied afterward is impossible to determine.

(Updated June 13, 2012)

Erin Brockovich Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The soundtrack for Erin Brockovich was mixed by Larry Blake, who is the sound guru for all of Steven Soderbergh's films, and it reflects Blake's usual approach, which is sparing in its use of discrete rear channel effects, but sensitive in its achievement of mood and tone. For Erin Brockovich, Blake relied heavily on the atmospheric score by Thomas Newman, which uses synthesized sounds almost as sound effects rather than instruments, so that it seems to blend in and out of the mix. As presented on the Blu-ray's DTS-HD MA 5.1 track, the score has wonderful presence and depth; it feels like it's reaching out and enveloping the listening space. Dialogue is always clear, and there are some ambient sounds appropriate to various environments (Masry's office, a bar in Hinkley) tucked gently into the mix. This soundtrack may not be "demo" material, but it blends seamlessly with the film's images to tell an effective story, which is all one can ask.

Erin Brockovich Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

To the extent any supplements from Universal's 2000 DVD have been omitted (mostly DVD-ROM extras), they can be found on the included DVD, which appears to be identical to the 2000 release. The extras listed below are those on the Blu-ray.

• Deleted Scenes (SD; 1.85, enhanced for 16:9; 30:07): These eighteen scenes (depending on how you count sequences composed of several distinct elements) represent only a portion of the trims necessary to reduce the film's first assembly to its current running time. Director Soderbergh discusses the editorial process in an optional commentary to theses scenes.


• Erin Brockovich: A Look at a Real Life Experience (SD; 1.33:1; 3:58): Interviews with the real Erin Brockovich and Ed Masry.


• Spotlight on Location: The Making of Erin Brockovich (SD; 1.33:1; 15:12): Starting with executive producer Carla Santos Shamberg, who shared a chiropractor with Brockovich, this short documentary traces the history of the project. Other interviewees include Brockovich, Masry, Soderbergh, Roberts and Finney.


• Theatrical Trailer (SD; 1.85:1, non-enhanced; 2:33): This trailer played widely in the summer before the film's release and effectively built anticipation.


• 100 Years of Universal: Academy Award Winners (HD, 1080p; 1.78:1; 9:35): A survey of Oscar-winning roles and films.


• 100 Years of Universal: The Lot (HD, 1080p; 1.78:1; 9:25): A tour of the studio backlot, with comments from numerous people who have worked there, including Steven Spielberg, Michael Mann, Ron Howard, John Carpenter, John Landis and Phil Alden Robinson.


• pocketBLU
• My Scenes
• BD-Live

Erin Brockovich Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Soderbergh was nominated for the best director Oscar for Erin Brockovich but lost—to himself, for Traffic. No doubt Academy voters were wowed by Soderbergh's virtuoso control of the latter film's multi-stranded narrative, but I've always found the precision balancing act of Erin Brockovich to be a more impressive demonstration of the director's art. There were so many places where the tone could have gone wrong: by making the townspeople too pathetic, PG&E and its representatives too villainous, the alienating co-counsel too insensitive, the Brockovich kids too cloying, the heroine herself too offensive. With so many opportunities for the film to fall off the cliff, it takes assured directorial guidance to keep everyone on the straight and narrow. Highly recommended, even if it is a Universal catalog title.