Erin Brockovich (January 8/00)

Here it is - the first great Julia Roberts performance.

Roberts plays the titular character, a badly-dressed human rights crusader. After receiving what was supposed to be a clerical job from lawyer Albert Finney, Roberts quickly tackles her first case: The poisoning of a small town by a big company. Of course, nobody thinks she up to it, but she's got a lot of spunk and determination and gosh darned it, she's gonna prove everyone wrong. And that she does.

Directed by Steven Soderbergh, Erin Brockovich tells a familiar David vs Goliath story, but it's the characters and the performances that really make this movie stand out. Roberts, of course, essentially steals the spotlight from everyone else - she's in virtually ever scene - but she's very good here. She's taken her ingratiating persona and flipped it. She's still ingratiating, but now she's using it to her advantage. Witness, for example, the scene in which she flaunts her uplifted bosom for the sole purpose of gaining access to key files. It's hard to imagine another actress pulling this off without appearing sleazy. When Julia Roberts does it, it's endearing.

Albert Finney, her boss, is astonishingly good. If you only know him from his previous British film work (as in The Browning Version), check him out here. He's the walking definition of befuddlement. And Marg Helgenberger, of the TV show C.S.I., is also good as a cancer-stricken resident of the poisoned town.

Behind the camera, there's Steven Soderbergh. This is a guy that refuses to be pigeonholed. It's hard to believe the same man that directed the dark - almost avant-garde - noir pic The Limey directed this (by comparison) mainstream Hollywood film. Predictable yet compelling, the film would not have been quite as exciting had a less edgy director helmed it. It probably would have played more like a lost rerun of L.A. Law.

Back to Roberts. She's proven that she's adept at comedy (Pretty Woman) but horrible at accents (Mary Reilly). Erin Brockovich gives her a chance to flaunt her considerable charisma while also allowing her to shock people that may have written her off as a purely comedic actress. She's got the chops all right, as long as she doesn't stretch herself too far.