Erin Brockovich

This has little of the flair we've come to expect from Steven Soderbergh, the Oscar-winning director of Traffic, and it does resemble a standard “issue of the week” TV movie. Yet this drama's ace in the hole is Soderbergh's fellow Oscar winner (for best actress) Julia Roberts, who earns every cent of her $20-million salary in a sensationally showy role as the spirited heroine. A twice-divorced mother of three, Brockovich lands a job in the office of a small-time lawyer (Albert Finney), and there she stumbles across some misplaced medical records while filing real estate documents. Intrigued, she investigates, eventually uncovering evidence that a power company has wrecked the health of a local community with contaminated water. Based on a true story, Soderbergh's emotionally-rich drama is compulsive viewing, thanks not only to Roberts's throat-grabbing performance, but also to Finney's loveable turn as the minor-league attorney who's well out of his depth and a perfectly pitched script by Susannah Grant. While the film is too long, it remains compelling throughout.

Unexpectedly lively and amusing movie of a heartening true story, one that gives Julia Roberts her best and most convincing role so far, as a feisty but vulnerable mother who refuses to be intimidated by anyone.