Dark Waters

When you have legal problems, or need help with legal issues, who do you turn to ? A law firm of course. You can´t guarantee you will win the case, it all depends on what the case is about, and if your lawyer can manage to help you in court. But if there is no other way out, i think most people would go to court if they have to, especially if there is a serious issue behind the case. I have watched a lot of court TV, that takes on smaller subjects such as money issues, marriage issues, and business issues. It is interesting hearing two sides from each storiy, and you have to figure out who you believe is telling the truth. When it comes to films with lawyers, we have a lot of titles to choose between. I could probably pick out at least 5 really good films, but i decided to go with only one film instead. And the reason is because this is a film you don´t hear much about anymore, and deserves to be noticed. I am thinking about the 1998 legal drama A Civil Action with legendary actor John Travolta. This film is based on the book ( with the same name ) by author Jonathan Harr. The story takes place in the city of Woburn, Massachusetts, where local children are dying through toxic water. It seems that two giant corporations, Beatrice Foods and W.R. Grace and Company are responsible of these children´s death by letting out toxic contamination. Boston attourney Jan Schlichtmann ( John Travolta ) and his small firm of injury lawyers, are asked by Woburn resident Anne Anderson ( Kathleen Quinlan ) to take legal action against those responsible. Knowing that this film is actually based on a true story, makes this film interesting. Especially when you know that children actually died becuase of these companies, and they could have stopped this from happening. I suggest you Watch the film on Netflix, or on DVD, it is a good film. Since Christmas last year, i have heard about a film called Dark Waters, that is based on Robert Bilott´s case against the chemical manufacturing corporation DuPont. And the cast of Mark Ruffalo, Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins and Bill Pullman, i just could not turn down a wonderful cast like this. Is this one of the better legal drama films in many years, or is Dark Water more likely to be forgotten on the DVD shelf ?

Robert Bilott ( Mark Ruffalo ) is a corporate defense lawyer from Cincinatti, Ohio working for law firm Taft Stettinius & Hollister. Farmer Willbur Tennant ( Bill Camp ), who knows Robert´s grandmother, asks Robert to investigate a number of unexplained deaths in Parkesburg, West Virginia. Tennant connects the deaths to chemical manufacturing corporation  DuPont, and give Robert a large case of videotapes. Robert visits Willbur´s farm, where he learns that 190 cattle have died with unusual medical conditions such as bloated organs, blackened teeth, and tumors. DuPont attourney Phil Donnely ( Victor Graber ) tells Robert that he is not aware of of the case but will help any way he can. As Robert begins to dig deeper into this case, he realize that the corporation DuPont have done even more damage than he would have imagined, with human lives in danger as well.

If you are not a fan of legal drama thrillers, then i doubt you will change your mind about Dark Waters. But this is a really good film, for a number of reasons. This is a very interesting case, surrounding American environmental attourney Robert Bilott. What he did to fight against the corporation DuPont, is absolutely incredible. Knowing that they have caused a lot of people´s deaths, because of the pollution in water, shows you how corprations like that Think more about making money than destroying people´s lives. And it will always be like this, Money matters more than human lives for many corporations. What this film manage to do really well, is telling this story in a very simple but effective way, without making the information too complicated to understand. Most of all, i have to admit that the cast does a fantastic performance in this film. Mark Ruffalo ( who i especially enjoy in the film The Kids Are All Right ) plays the lead character Robert Bilott. This may be the best acting performance i have seen Ruffalo do since….. The Kids Are All Right ? And that was 10 years, so i am very pleased to see him do such a powerful performance in this film. Actress Anne Hathaway also deliver a strong performance as Roberts wife Sarah. There is especially one hospital scene where Hathaway show her power as an actress, that will affect you emotionally. Legendary actors Tim Robbins and Bill Pullman both go into their characters with a lot of power. This film looks really good, with dark colors and manage to capture the different parts of society, where the poor people always have to fight to be heard. This film also shows how hated you can become, if you go against the people that do have money. But this is a very important message in this film, if you have caused people´s deaths, you have to take responsibility for your actions. Director Todd Haynes ( who directed the wonderful film Carol ) have made a very strong film with Dark Waters, with a very important story that needs to be told. He is clearly driven with passion to tell this story, and he capture that feeling through his fantastic camera work. I can easily say that this is one of the better films i have seen this year. Dark Waters may be one of the best legal drama thrillers in recent years.

Rating: DDDD