Erin
Brockovich (2000) DVD
Broke and desperate, the twice
divorced single mom Erin bosses her way into a clerical job with attorney
Ed Masry (Albert Finney), who's indebted to Erin after failing to win her
traffic-injury case. Erin is soon focused on suspicious connections between
a mighty power company, its abuse of toxic chromium, and the poisoned water
supply of Hinkley, California, where locals have suffered a legacy of death
and disease. Matching the dramatic potency of Norma Rae and Silkwood, Erin
Brockovich filters cold facts through warm humanity, especially in Erin's
rapport with dying victims and her relationship with George (superbly played
by Aaron Eckhart), a Harley-riding neighbor who offers more devotion than
Erin's ever known. Surely some of these details have been embellished for
dramatic effect, but the factual basis of Erin Brockovich adds a boost
of satisfaction, proving that greed, neglect, and corporate arrogance are
no match against a passionate crusader. (Trivia note: The real Erin Brockovich
appears briefly as a diner waitress.)
--Jeff Shannon
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Hilary
and Jackie (1998) DVD
Starring: Emily Watson, Rachel
Griffiths
The film is a bisected story
(each sister's tale is told in the same amount of screen time) teeming
with heartfelt drama that belies the cheap shots it received from its detractors.
It's stirring, reckless, loving, involving, and rife with unconventional
passion; passion for music, life, art, and the delicate relationship between
these two synchronous, extraordinary sisters as played by brilliant actors
Emily Watson and Rachel Griffiths (both of whom earned Oscar nods). Though
Watson got the juicy, showy role as Jackie, it's Griffiths who provides
the heart, soul, and spine of the film. And director Tucker has that gift
of being able to explain through the visual medium what is happening inside
of his character's heads.
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Mona
Lisa Smile (2003) DVD
Julia Roberts's command of the
screen is so effortless, it's easy for moviegoers to take her for granted
--but we shouldn't. Mona Lisa Smile--about a noncomformist teacher at a
private school who encourages students to pursue their individuality--is
pretty much an all-girls version of Dead Poets Society that mixes '50s
fashions with '70s feminist thought. However, its lack of ambition doesn't
diminish the talent that's gone into it: The writing and directing are
well-honed and skillful; the actors--a talent-studded cast featuring Marcia
Gay Harden, Kirsten Dunst, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Julia Stiles, and Juliet
Stevenson --are uniformly excellent. But without question, Mona Lisa Smile
rides on Roberts's shoulders and she carries it with ease. She's possibly
the only contemporary actor who simply owns a movie the way Bette Davis,
Jean Arthur, or Claudette Colbert once did, radiating a engaging mix of
intelligence, drive, and emotional warmth that cannot be matched.
--Bret Fetzer
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Earthly
Possessions
(1999)
DVD
Starring: Susan Sarandon, Stephen
Dorff. Susan Sarandon is Charlotte Emory, a sexually frustrated unhappy
homemaker who longs for her husband to stop taking her for granted. Stephen
Dorff is Jake Simms, a bank robber with a vicious temper and the obligatory
heart of gold. When Jake attempts a bank robbery, Charlotte becomes his
hostage. Together, they go on the lam.
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The
Pelican Brief (1993) DVD
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