Erin Brockovich (film)

Erin Brockovich is a 2000 American biographical legal drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Susannah Grant.<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref> The film is a dramatization of the true story of Erin Brockovich, portrayed by Julia Roberts, who initiated a legal case against the Pacific Gas and Electric Company over its culpability for the Hinkley groundwater contamination incident. Erin Brockovich premiered in Los Angeles on March 14, 2000, and was released theatrically in the United States by Universal Pictures on March 17, 2000, and internationally by Columbia Pictures. It emerged as a critical and commercial success, grossing $256.3 million worldwide.

The film received five nominations at the 73rd Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actor (Albert Finney). Roberts won Best Actress at the Academy Awards, BAFTA Awards, the Critics Choice Awards, the Golden Globes, and the SAG Awards. Additionally, the film won the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Director (for Soderbergh, also for Traffic) and the SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role (Finney).

Plot

In 1993, Erin Brockovich is an unemployed single mother of three children, who has recently been injured in a car crash with a doctor and is suing him. Her lawyer, Ed Masry, expects to win, but Erin's explosive courtroom behavior under cross-examination loses her the case, and Ed will not return her phone calls afterwards. One day, he arrives at work to find her in the office, apparently working. She says that he told her things would work out and they did not, and that she needed a job. Ed takes pity on Erin, and she gets a paid job at the office.

Erin is given files for a real estate case where the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is offering to purchase the home of Donna Jensen, a resident of Hinkley, California. Erin is surprised to see medical records in the file and visits Donna, who explains that she had simply kept all her PG&E correspondence together. Donna appreciates PG&E's help: she has had several tumors and her husband has Hodgkin's lymphoma, but PG&E has always supplied a doctor at their own expense. Erin asks why they would do that, and Donna replies, "because of the chromium". Erin begins digging into the case and finds evidence that the groundwater in Hinkley is seriously contaminated with carcinogenic hexavalent chromium, but PG&E has been telling Hinkley residents that they use a safer form of chromium. After several days away from the office doing this research, she is fired by Ed until he realizes that she has been working the entire time, and sees what she has found out.

Rehired, she continues her research, and over time, visits many Hinkley residents and wins their trust. She finds many cases of tumors and other medical problems in Hinkley. Everyone has been treated by PG&E's doctors and thinks the cluster of cases is just a coincidence, unrelated to the "safe" chromium. The Jensens' claim for compensation grows into a major lawsuit, but the direct evidence only relates to PG&E's Hinkley plant, not to corporate management.

Knowing that PG&E could slow any settlement for years through delays and appeals, Ed takes the opportunity to arrange for disposition by binding arbitration, but a large majority of the plaintiffs must agree to this. Erin returns to Hinkley and persuades all 634 plaintiffs to go along. While she is there, a man named Charles Embry approaches her to say that he and his cousin were PG&E employees, but his cousin recently died from the poison. The man says he was tasked with destroying documents at PG&E, but, "as it turns out," he "wasn't a very good employee".

Embry gives Erin the documents, which include a 1966 memo proving corporate headquarters knew the water was contaminated with hexavalent chromium, did nothing about it, and advised the Hinkley operation to keep this secret. The judge orders PG&E to pay a settlement amount of $333 million to be distributed among the plaintiffs.

In the aftermath, Ed hands Erin her bonus payment for the case but warns her he has changed the amount. She explodes into a complaint that she deserves more respect, but is astonished to find that he has increased it—to $2 million.

Production

Development and writing

The idea for the film came to be when executive producer Carla Santos Shamberg happened to learn about Erin Brockovich's story due to sharing a chiropractor with her.<ref name="Truth">Template:Cite news</ref> Santos Shamberg invited Brockovich over to her house to share her story. Of their meeting, Santos Shamberg recalled: "I couldn't believe it. It seemed incredible that this twice-divorced woman with three young children, who had no money, no resources, and no formal education, had single-handedly put this case together. I thought she seemed like the perfect role model for the new millennium."Template:Sfn

Brockovich sold the film rights to her story in 1997 and the film began development at Jersey Films.<ref name="Truth" /> Producers courted Callie Khouri<ref name="HuffPost">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Paul AttanasioTemplate:Sfn to write the script, but after they passed, screenwriter Susannah Grant was hired. Grant, who was looking to do a "story about a kick-ass broad", secured a meeting with Brockovich in person.<ref name="Truth" /> Grant spent a year following Brockovich and her kids around while writing the screenplay.<ref name=Friedman>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> To ensure the script's accuracy, Grant said she spent weeks going over the trial transcripts, Hinkley water board records, and notes made by Brockovich during the investigation.<ref name="Truth" />

Grant and the producers were in agreement that they did not want to do a traditional courtroom drama where institutional corruption would be the heart of the story. Said Grant of the script: "I came to believe that the spine of the story would be stronger if it was an emotional spine rather than an informational spine. So I really structured it [around] Erin and Ed's relationship. Structurally, it's a love story. It's not a romantic love, obviously, but it is an interpersonal love story. That was going to give me the most freedom. There's a scene where she's explaining the degree of malfeasance on PG&E's part, and all of that is in there, but what she's really doing in that scene is proving to Ed her worth and that he should be stepping up and meeting her where she is."<ref name="HuffPost" />

After three big-name directors passed on helming the film, Jersey Films approached Steven Soderbergh, who already had a relationship with the production company due to his 1998 film Out of Sight.<ref name="Truth" /> Soderbergh was selected to direct because he was known for being a good director of women. "I knew he would treat this character with a lot of respect and not make her silly. He did it with Jennifer Lopez [in Out of Sight] and Andie MacDowell [in Sex, Lies, and Videotape]," said Santos Shamberg.<ref name="Truth" /> Said Soderbergh: "It's rare to find human-sized heroes, and I was just captivated by [Erin] and her relationship with Ed and the fact that it was a story about people who made certain sacrifices and stood on certain principles without being a screed."<ref name="Truth" /> Soderbergh was also drawn to the project for the opportunity to direct a film in which the female protagonist is in every scene in the film, something he had never done before.Template:Sfn

Santos Shamberg pictured Julia Roberts in the lead role from the outset, but producers thought her casting would be a long shot. However, the script was slipped to Roberts' agent and the actress expressed enthusiasm in taking on the lead role and working with Soderbergh.<ref name="Truth" />Template:Sfn In doing the film, Roberts became the first actress at that time to be paid $20 million.<ref name=Newsweek>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Filming

The film was shot in 1999 over eleven weeks, of which five took place in Ventura, California.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Richard LaGravenese did an uncredited script polish.Template:Sfn<ref name="HuffPost" /><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Brockovich herself appears in the film as a waitress, while Edward Masry appears as a diner patron sitting behind her.<ref name="Truth" /> A judge who delivered a key ruling in the PG&E case was played by the actual judge.<ref name="Truth" />

The scene where a PG&E attorney is afraid to drink from a glass of water after Brockovich and Masry inform her that it came from Hinkley wells was altered for dramatic effect, but did actually take place during a trial.<ref name="Truth" />

A scene that was cut from the final version showed Erin becoming sick from the toxins, which happened in real life. Soderbergh excised the scene as he "didn't want people to think that this was going to turn into one of those movies where the protagonist gets terminally ill. It was a tough call, because Erin really did get sick and was hospitalized for a while."<ref name=DVD>Template:Cite AV media</ref>

Erin Brockovich performed well with test audiences but executives at Universal Pictures were worried that audiences would be turned off by the title character's use of profane language.<ref name="willens">Template:Cite news</ref>

Reception

Box office

Erin Brockovich was released in 2,848 theaters on March 17, 2000, and grossed $28.1 million on its opening weekend. It had the second-highest March opening weekend upon release, after Liar Liar. This was also the second-highest opening weekend for a Julia Roberts film, behind Runaway Bride.<ref>Template:Cite news Template:Open access</ref> The film reached the number one spot during its first weekend, beating Mission to Mars and Final Destination.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It made $18.5 million while declining by 34% for its second weekend while outgrossing Romeo Must Die, Here on Earth and Whatever It Takes.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Then, Erin Brockovich collected $13.8 million in its third weekend, defeating The Road to El Dorado, The Skulls and High Fidelity.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Overall, it spent a total of three weeks as the number one film until it was dethroned by Rules of Engagement.<ref>Template:Cite news Template:Open access</ref> The film went on to make $125.6 million in North America, making it the tenth highest-grossing film domestically for the year 2000.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It grossed $130.7 million internationally for a worldwide total of $256.3 million.<ref name= "boxoffice">Template:Cite news</ref>

Critical response

On review website Rotten Tomatoes, Erin Brockovich holds an approval rating of 85% based on 152 reviews, with an average rating of 7.50/10. The critics consensus reads, "Taking full advantage of Julia Roberts's considerable talent and appeal, Erin Brockovich overcomes a few character and plot issues to deliver a smart, thoughtful, and funny legal drama."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On Metacritic, the film has a weighted score of 73 out of 100 based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In his review for The New York Observer, Andrew Sarris wrote, "We get the best of independent cinema and the best of mainstream cinema all in one package. Erin Brockovich, like Wonder Boys right before it, makes the year 2000 seem increasingly promising for movies".<ref name= "sarris">Template:Cite news</ref> NewsweekTemplate:'s David Ansen began his review with, "Julia Roberts is flat-out terrific in Erin Brockovich." Furthermore, he wrote, "Roberts has wasted her effervescence on many paltry projects, but she hits the jackpot this time. Erin, single mother of three, a former Miss Wichita who improbably rallies a community to take on a multi-billion-dollar corporation, is the richest role of her career, simultaneously showing off her comic, dramatic and romantic chops".<ref name= "ansen">Template:Cite news</ref> Rolling StoneTemplate:'s Peter Travers wrote, "Roberts shows the emotional toll on Erin as she tries to stay responsible to her children and to a job that has provided her with a first taste of self-esteem".<ref name= "travers">Template:Cite magazine</ref> In his review for Entertainment Weekly, Owen Gleiberman gave the film a "B+" rating and wrote, "It's a delight to watch Roberts, with her flirtatious sparkle and undertow of melancholy, ricochet off Finney's wonderfully jaded, dry-as-beef-jerky performance as the beleaguered career attorney who knows too much about the loopholes of his profession to have much faith left in it".<ref name= "gleiberman">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Sight & SoundTemplate:'s Andrew O'Hehir wrote, "Perhaps the best thing about this relaxed and supremely engaging film (for my money the best work either the director or his star has ever done) is that even its near-fairytale resolution doesn't offer a magical transformation".<ref name="OHehir">Template:Cite news</ref> In her review for The Village Voice, Amy Taubin wrote, "What's pretty original about the picture is that it focuses an investigative drama based on a true story around a comic performance".<ref name= "taubin">Template:Cite news</ref>

However, film critic Roger Ebert gave the film a two-star review, writing, "There is obviously a story here, but Erin Brockovich doesn't make it compelling. The film lacks focus and energy, the character development is facile and thin".<ref name= "ebert">Template:Cite news</ref> In his review for The New York Times, A.O. Scott wrote, "After proving, for about 40 minutes, what a marvelous actress she can be, Ms. Roberts spends the next 90 content to be a movie star. As the movie drags on, her performance swells to bursting with moral vanity and phony populism".<ref name= "scott">Template:Cite news</ref> TimeTemplate:'s Richard Corliss found the film to be "slick, grating and false. We bet it makes a bundle".<ref name= "corliss">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Writing about the film for its twentieth anniversary, critic Scott Tobias wrote in The Guardian, "With this film and Traffic the same year, Soderbergh would prove to be a master at connecting the dots without making it seem like an information dump. In Erin Brockovich, Roberts is the spoonful of sugar that makes the medicine go down: as we learn about different types of chromium, the range of medical abnormalities, and the ins and outs of real estate documents and toxicology reports, she's ripping some poor suit with invective or using her body as a diversionary tactic. It never feels difficult to sort through the facts – and, more crucially, the emotional stakes of the case are never lost in them. That's Brockovich's gift. And that's Roberts', too."<ref name=Tobias>Template:Cite news</ref>

Accolades

Julia Roberts became the first actress to win an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Critics' Choice Movie Award, Golden Globe Award, National Board of Review Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award for a single performance.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Steven Soderbergh received dual nominations for Best Director that year for both Erin Brockovich and Traffic, winning the award for the latter.<ref name="lyman5" />

Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result
Academy Awards<ref name="Oscars2001">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name= "lyman4">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name= "lyman5">Template:Cite news</ref>	Best Picture	Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher	Template:Nom
	Best Director	Steven Soderbergh	Template:Nom
	Best Actress	Julia Roberts	Template:Won
	Best Supporting Actor	Albert Finney	Template:Nom
	Best Original Screenplay	Susannah Grant	Template:Nom
Amanda Awards	Best Foreign Feature Film	Steven Soderbergh	Template:Nom
American Film Institute Awards<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Top 10 Movies of the Year		Template:Won
Artios Awards<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Outstanding Achievement in Feature Film Casting – Drama	Margery Simkin	Template:Nom
Awards Circuit Community Awards	Best Actress in a Leading Role	Julia Roberts	Template:Runner-up
	Best Actor in a Supporting Role	Albert Finney	Template:Won
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Favorite Actress – Drama	Julia Roberts	Template:Won
	Favorite Supporting Actor – Drama	Albert Finney	Template:Nom
	Favorite Supporting Actress – Drama	Marg Helgenberger	Template:Nom
BMI Film & TV Awards	Film Music Award	Thomas Newman	Template:Won
Bogey Awards			Template:Won
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Best Film		Template:Draw
	Best Director	Steven Soderbergh	Template:Draw
	Best Actress	Julia Roberts	Template:Draw
	Best Supporting Actor	Albert Finney	Template:Draw
British Academy Film Awards<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Best Film	Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher	Template:Nom
	Best Direction	Steven Soderbergh	Template:Nom
	Best Actress in a Leading Role	Julia Roberts	Template:Won
	Best Actor in a Supporting Role	Albert Finney	Template:Nom
	Best Original Screenplay	Susannah Grant	Template:Nom
	Best Editing	Anne V. Coates	Template:Nom
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Best Actress	Julia Roberts	Template:Nom
	Best Supporting Actor	Albert Finney	Template:Nom
Chlotrudis Awards<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>		Best Supporting Actor	Template:Nom
Costume Designers Guild Awards	Excellence in Contemporary Film	Jeffrey Kurland	Template:Won
Critics' Choice Movie Awards<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name= "lyman">Template:Cite news</ref>	Top 10 Films		Template:Won
	Best Picture		Template:Nom
	Best Director	Steven Soderbergh Template:Small	Template:Won
	Best Actress	Julia Roberts	Template:Won
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards	Top 10 Films		Template:Draw
	Best Film		Template:Nom
	Best Actress	Julia Roberts	Template:Nom
	Best Supporting Actor	Albert Finney	Template:Won
Directors Guild of America Awards<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures	Steven Soderbergh	Template:Nom
Edgar Allan Poe Awards<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Best Motion Picture	Susannah Grant	Template:Nom
Empire Awards<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Best Actress	Julia Roberts	Template:Nom
Environmental Media Awards<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Feature Film		Template:Won
European Film Awards<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Screen International Award		Template:Nom
Florida Film Critics Circle Awards<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Best Director	Steven Soderbergh Template:Small	Template:Won
Golden Globe Awards<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name= "lyman2">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name= "lyman3">Template:Cite news</ref>	Best Motion Picture – Drama		Template:Nom
	Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama	Julia Roberts	Template:Won
	Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture	Albert Finney	Template:Nom
	Best Director – Motion Picture	Steven Soderbergh	Template:Nom
Golden Reel Awards	Best Sound Editing – Dialogue & ADR, Domestic Feature Film	Larry Blake and Aaron Glascock	Template:Nom
	Best Sound Editing – Sound Effects & Foley, Domestic Feature Film	Michael Keller	Template:Nom
Jupiter Awards	Best International Actress	Julia Roberts	Template:Won
Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Best Picture		Template:Won
	Best Director	Steven Soderbergh Template:Small	Template:Won
	Best Actress	Julia Roberts	Template:Nom
	Best Supporting Actor	Albert Finney	Template:Nom
	Best Original Screenplay	Susannah Grant and Richard LaGravenese	Template:Won
London Film Critics Circle Awards	Director of the Year	Steven Soderbergh	Template:Nom
	Actress of the Year	Julia Roberts	Template:Won
	British Supporting Actor of the Year	Albert Finney	Template:Won
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Best Director	Steven Soderbergh Template:Small	Template:Won
	Best Actress	Julia Roberts	Template:Won
Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Awards<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Best Contemporary Hair Styling in a Feature-Length Motion Picture		Template:Nom
MTV Movie Awards<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Best Movie		Template:Nom
	Best Female Performance	Julia Roberts	Template:Won
	Best Line	"Bite My Ass, Krispy Kreme"	Template:Nom
National Board of Review Awards<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Best Director	Steven Soderbergh Template:Small	Template:Won
	Best Actress	Julia Roberts	Template:Won
National Festival of Dubbing Voices in the Shadow	Best Female Voice (Film Award)	Cristina Boraschi Template:Small	Template:Nom
	Best Female Voice (Audience Award)		Template:Won
National Society of Film Critics Awards<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name= "cardwell">Template:Cite news</ref>	Best Director	Steven Soderbergh Template:Small	Template:Won
New York Film Critics Circle Awards<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	Best Director		Template:Won
Online Film & Television Association Awards<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Best Picture	Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher	Template:Nom
	Best Director	Steven Soderbergh	Template:Nom
	Best Actress	Julia Roberts	Template:Nom
	Best Supporting Actor	Albert Finney	Template:Nom
	Best Original Screenplay	Susannah Grant	Template:Nom
	Best Film Editing	Anne V. Coates	Template:Nom
Online Film Critics Society Awards<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Top 10 Films		Template:Draw
	Best Actress	Julia Roberts	Template:Nom
	Best Supporting Actor	Albert Finney	Template:Nom
PEN Center USA West Literary Awards	Best Screenplay	Susannah Grant	Template:Nom
Producers Guild of America Awards<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures	Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher	Template:Nom
Political Film Society Awards	Exposé		Template:Nom
	Human Rights		Template:Nom
San Diego Film Critics Society Awards<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Best Actress	Julia Roberts	Template:WonTemplate:Efn
Satellite Awards<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Best Motion Picture – Drama		Template:Nom
	Best Director	Steven Soderbergh	Template:Nom
	Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama	Julia Roberts	Template:Nom
	Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama	Albert Finney	Template:Nom
	Best Original Screenplay	Susannah Grant	Template:Nom
Screen Actors Guild Awards<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role	Julia Roberts	Template:Won
	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role	Albert Finney	Template:Won
citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Best Picture		Template:Draw
Teen Choice Awards<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Choice Movie Actress	Julia Roberts	Template:Won
Writers Guild of America Awards<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Best Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen	Susannah Grant	Template:Nom

American Film Institute recognition:

• AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains:
  • Erin Brockovich – Hero No. 31<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers – No. 73<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Accuracy

On her website, Brockovich says the film is "probably 98% accurate".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> While the general facts of the story are accurate, there are some minor discrepancies between actual events and the movie, as well as a number of controversial and disputed issues more fundamental to the case. In the film, Erin Brockovich appears to deliberately use her cleavage to seduce the water board attendant to allow her to access the documents. Brockovich has acknowledged that her cleavage may have had an influence, but denies consciously trying to influence individuals in this way.<ref name= "frog">Template:Cite news</ref> In the film, Ed Masry represents Erin Brockovich in the car crash case. In reality, it was his law partner, Jim Vititoe.<ref>Masry & Vititoe – Erin Brockovitch resumé Template:Webarchive</ref> Brockovich had never been Miss Wichita; she had been Miss Pacific Coast. According to Brockovich, this detail was deliberately changed by Soderbergh as he thought it was "cute" to have her be beauty queen of the region from which she came.<ref name=frog/> The "not so good employee" who met Brockovich in the bar was Chuck Ebersohl. He told Erin about the documents that he and Lillian Melendez had been tasked by PG&E to destroy.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

George Halaby, played by Aaron Eckhart in the film, along with Brockovich's ex-husband Shawn Brown, alleged that she had an affair with Masry. They also attempted to file a lawsuit against her for $310,000.<ref name=JuryOut/> Halaby was arrested and the lawyer John Jeffrey Reiner was suspended from practicing, convicted of extortion, and later disbarred.<ref name=JuryOut>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Sfn

See also

• Dark Waters (2019 film)

Works cited

• Template:Cite book

External links

• [https://www.imdb.com/{{#if: 0195685

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• Template:TCMDb title
• Template:Mojo title
• Template:Rotten-tomatoes
• Template:Metacritic film
• Erin Brockovich-Ellis' official site
• Story behind Erin Brockovich with pictures and primary sources from the actual case on which the film is based