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Based on a true story, Erin Brockovich focuses on the life of a Los Angeles legal assistant by the same name. Erin (Julia Roberts), a divorced, unemployed mother of three, fakes a resume and forces herself into a position at a less-than-reputable Los Angeles law office. While working on a supposedly unimportant pro bono case, Erin stumbles upon an epidemic of massive proportions in the tiny town of Hinkley. It seems Pacific Gas & Electric may have contaminated the local water supply and caused multiple cases of tumors, degenerative organs and other illnesses. Erin convinces her boss, Ed Masry (Albert Finney), to join her in the case, and the tag team eventually succeeds in winning a class action lawsuit against the power company.
Erin Brockovich is humanistic and heartfelt without being overbearing in sentimentality. The plainness and mainstream identity of Erin's anywoman character invokes the much-loved underdog syndrome, whereby an entry-level clerk successfully sues a massive corporation. The film mimics this archetypal myth, but doesn't give in to over-the-top touchiness or false affectation. Erin Brockovich grossed an astounding $125 million, along with an Oscar for Julia Roberts. And the film effectively identified Soderbergh as a definitive studio director and mainstream filmmaker.
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