Erin Brockovich (DVD, 2000)

Crusading a cause we believe in is something we'd all like to do. Being regarded as a force to be reckoned with and getting the result you dream of is the stuff movies are made of, unless you're ERIN BROCKOVICH.

Based on a true story, Julia Roberts offers a commanding, believable performance as the real-life Erin Brockovich, a single mom of three young children from her two failed marriages. With no means of outside support, no real education to market her inherent skills and luck being a four-letter word in her world, she prevails against obstacles that would have left most of us twisting in the wind.

Erin's temper is instrumental in her losing a surefire win in a personal injury court case. At wit's end, she entices Ed Masry (a casting coup with the very talented Albert Finney), the lawyer that represented her in the failed lawsuit, to give her a job. At first, she bluffs her way through but a case she is asked to open a file for catches her eye. Using her looks, charm-on-tap and genuine gift of persuasion, she discovers through research a tremendous case of injustice against the residents of small-town Hinkley by PG&E (Pacific Gas & Electric), a multi-billion dollar corporation. What starts out as a simple real estate case turns into a multi-million dollar direct-action lawsuit with 634 plaintiffs involved.

As Erin becomes more deeply involved in the lives and day-to-day health and financial struggles of these affected families living on the "plume", her anger and passion for justice escalates. She finds herself sacrificing time with her kids, her boyfriend (perfectly portrayed by Aaron Eckhart)and her own health (much of Erin's illness scenes were cut from the final film release). In the eleventh hour of still needing a "smoking gun" to connect the local plant with PG&E's corporate headquarters, as the law firm that Ed wisely partners with in the case points out, she chances to meet a former PG&E employee. He quickly and quietly shows her the light at the end of the very long tunnel she's been travelling through.

Erin's perseverance and compassion for the victims of PG&E wins out with the largest (333 million dollar) direct-action lawsuit settlement in U.S. history. What makes Julia Roberts' performance work so well is the in-your-face attitude she takes every time she hits a wall, meets an adversary or gets pushed a step back in her fight. She comes right back, fists clenched and eyes blazing with no signs of hopelessness or defeat. Albert Finney is wonderful always but is completely convincing as a close-to-retirement lawyer that is faced with the biggest case of his life at a time when he is consciously winding down his career. Marg Helgenberger is sweet, sad and beautiful as the cancer-ridden victim Donna Jensen, quite a departure from her sharp, savvy, sexy Agent Willows on CSI. Is the fact that the always watchable Conchata Ferrell (Brenda) appears in this movie a coincidence, seeing as how she also appeared in Julia Roberts' break-out movie Mystic Pizza? Probably not. Also, a comment on the very young, talented Scott Leavenworth as Erin's son Matthew; touching and forceful in all the right places.

Steven Soderbergh had his hands full in 2000, having also directed TRAFFIC the same year. ERIN BROCKOVICH is a crisp, fun, gut-wrenching, thoroughly satisfying movie that gives you the sense of peace at the end that one craves after a roller coaster ride. Add it to your collection today.