rated on a 4-star scale screening venue : odoen ( liverpool city centre ) released in the uk by uip on april 7 , 2000 ; certificate 15 ; 126 minutes ; country of origin usa ; aspect ratio 1 . 85 : 1 directed by stephen soderbergh ; produced by danny devito , michael shamberg , stacey sher . written by susannah grant . photographed by ed lachmann ; edited by anne v . coates . it's astounding , how many of us turn into lawyers when we get wrapped up in cases . i remember the louise woodward affair , for example , when i knew all the evidence from the courtroom pictures on tv , and was able to reel off detailed arguments crushing people who had just looked at her and assumed she was guilty . passion about justice is what makes people consider law careers ; it chills me when i see sell-outs trying to condemn obviously innocent people , or using dishonest tactics to help the guilty . stephen soderbergh's " erin brockovich " is a brilliant story of anger turning into courtroom skills ; a david versus goliath-style exposé in the great tradition of " silkwood " , " a civil action " and " the insider " . at its centre is a woman with no judiciary training or expertise , whose mind was not complicated with red tape or histories of statutes , and whose discoveries and simple logical interpretations helped small-time lawyers win one of the biggest lawsuits in american history . her name , of course , is erin brockovich ( julia roberts ) , and when we meet her in the opening scenes of this film , she's just a struggling single mother who has failed to win a personal injury settlement . soon after , she hustles her way into a filing job at the firm of her solicitor . the boss , ed masry ( albert finney ) , objects , but erin makes her services hard to refuse : " i need a job . don't make me beg . if it doesn't work out , fire me . " when handling the real estate documents of a town in california , erin notices something odd -- they all include medical records . researching this further , she stumbles on the information that the area's water supplier , pacific gas & electric , has been using a dangerous chemical known as 'hexavalent chromium 3' in their pipes . 'chromium 3' can penetrate the body to cause pretty much any illness , including all forms of cancer . what's especially horrific is that pg&e knew about the hazards of their water and misinformed its customers that chromium was good for them . the people took the company's word , even when they all started to get sick , until erin brockovich revealed her findings , and used her common touch to encourage the folks to stand up and take legal action . brockovich is not always a likeable character . at the start of the movie , when no job interviewers will look past her lack of a resumé or qualifications , her feeling of victimisation is preposterous . she seems to think anyone who isn't stuck in the poverty trap must be some sort of snob . and she displays gross arrogance when defending her wardrobe , which is made up of mini-skirts , tight boob tubes and high-heeled boots . " as long as i have one ass instead of two , " she tells masry when he points out that his office has a dress code , " i'll wear what i god damn well please . " but none of these flaws take away from her achievement , which is that she worked hard , taught herself some tough skills , became a great friend and advocate for victims of an abominable crime , and managed to raise a family at the same time . this is one of roberts's most impressive performances , her best since " pretty woman " ( 1990 ) , because she really does look affected by the pressures her character has to cope with . she allows herself to be vulnerable , with a voice that can quiver and stumble . she doesn't always have the answers , and could break down at any minute . there are one or two irritating episodes of grandstanding , where she rattles off snappy , heroic speeches that probably took the screenwriter hours to write ; but that's kind of obligatory , and i'm just glad that such moments don't dominate the film . " erin brockovich " is not necessarily better than the films i previously mentioned , but has advantages over each of them in one way or another . it's more fast-paced and accessible than " silkwood " , angrier about its subject matter than " a civil action " and less sidetracked than " the insider " . i'm starting to love director soderbergh's new visual style , too , which he also used in " out of sight " , and mixes the colour palette and star power of big studio movies with the documentary camera and quiet pacing of realistic independents . sounds distracting . but it's oddly compelling . copyright ( c ) 2000 ian waldron-mantgani please visit , and encourage others to visit , the uk critic's website , which is located at <a href= " http : //members . aol . com/ukcritic " >http : //members . aol . com/ukcritic</a> 
