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If the real Erin Brockovich is anything like she is portrayed in the film, then she is an amazing woman. Outrageously offensive when insulted, she has an amazing memory for detail, a wonderful empathy for people, and a burning passion. You even meet her in the film, she plays a small cameo role as a waitress near the start.
Film Reviews
Erin Brockovich
We have seen Julia Roberts play a prostitute in Pretty Woman, but that is nothing to how she played this twice divorced mother of three.
The film tells the story of her working for a legal company to get compensation for people made ill by a nearby company poison into the town's water supply. But that is not really what the film is about. What the film portrays is the various relationships Erin has with colleagues, children, lover, other lawyers, clients. There are dramatic confrontations, breathtaking insults, outrageous flirtation. There is humour, there is empathy, there is excellent dialogue. A great film.
Try reading the BBC Review for a more detail.
Mike Pendray
30 April 2001
The Dabney family have fallen on hard times in the 1930 depression, and there is little to remind them of the family's once prosperous past, except the farm where Vernon Dabney distills illegal liquor, and a painting of a fine house that stood on the land before the civil war.
Until that is Shadrach arrives, asking to be buried on Dabney ground, which he left seventy five years ago after being sold as a young slave.
The story is told through the eyes of a ten year old boy, a well to do friend of the youngest son, an only child who enjoys the company his best friend, and also greatly admires the youngest daughter.
It is a charming tale, nicely told, with humour, and with good performances from Andy MacDowell & Harvey Keitel as the Dabney Mum & Dad. Visit the website
Mike Pendray
10 March 2001
I am sorry to be touchy about this, but I still feel just as uncomfortable about the idea of a mouse being adopted as a family member as I did before I saw the film, and as George the older brother did at first. I am not a Stuart Little fan, and I will not thank you for a Stuart Little tie to hang alongside my new Chicken Run tie. Which is a little odd, because I think I enjoyed the film more than Chicken Run.
What makes the film enjoyable is not the effort of Hugh Lawrie and Geena Davis, although they play their two dimensional characters superbly. Nor is it the character of Stuart Little, which successfully manages to neither repulse the viewer for being a rodent, nor repulse the viewer by being cute.
Instead, it is the pace of the action, the twists and turns of the plot, and the.... well actually it is the cat that deserves all the plaudits.
Enjoy the film. I did. It is fairly short, about 75 minutes, I think, but a lot of fun.
If you want to you can see the Web site as well
Mike Pendray 30 July 2000
(Return to Top)This is not a film to take too seriously, but it is a lot of fun, and has some very enjoyable action and excitement
It somewhere between a western, for the setting, a 007, for the gadgets, and a carry on, for some of the humour, rude, but nothoing too outrageous.
In carry on up the Kyber, when Kenneth Williams is deafened by a gong, he says "Rank Stupidity". There is a similar gag, making play on a well known trademark from the entertainment industry, that had me rolling on the floor with laughter.
Well like I say, don't take it too seriously, but settle down for a fun and undemanding evening.
Mike Pendray 20 May 2000
(Return to Top)This is a delightful Romantic Comedy made in the mould of Four Weddings and a Funeral, where a reticent and indecisive Hugh Grant eventually gets together with the elusive American girl of his dreams, but not before many embarrassing and hilarious episodes.
This film is not Four Weddings and a Funeral, for a start the bad language is not so in your face, and it does not have the tear jerking funeral. But in some ways it is a more satisfying love story, depending not on the enigmatic character of Carrie, but rather the demands of Anna’s Scott’s (Julia Roberts) acting career and attendant publicity. We are also treated to more of the developing friendship, the conversation during the first date. (I wrote that before I read on the web site that Julia Roberts' agent described it as "the best romantic comedy she had ever read")
Richard Curtis the screenwriter said that it sprang from the idea of imagining his friends reacting if he came to dinner with the most famous woman of the moment, and the dinner party is a wonderful catalogue of differing reactions.
Would we take our children to see it? There is some bad language, no nudity, no violence, just some lovely portrayal of being in love, tongue tied, embarrassed, hopeful, feeling confused and disappointed, I would suggest the studios own assessment of PG-13 is about right.
Don’t forget to visit the web site www.universalpictures.com/nottinghill, because, after all, it’s a lot more fun than this page.
Mike Pendray 12 June 1999
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