“Dark
Waters” is a legal thriller film directed by Todd Haynes and written by Mario
Correa and Matthew Michael Carnahan. It is based on a 2016 article "The
Lawyer Who Became DuPont's Worst Nightmare" by Nathaniel Rich, published
in The New York Times Magazine. The film stars Mark Ruffalo, Anne Hathaway, Tim
Robbins, Victor Garber, Mare Winningham, William Jackson Harper, and Bill
Pullman.
Corporate
environmental defense attorney Rob Bilott has just made partner at his
prestigious Cincinnati law firm in large part due to his work defending Big
Chem companies. He finds himself conflicted after he’s contacted by two West
Virginia farmers who believe that the local DuPont plant is dumping toxic waste
in the area landfill that is destroying their fields and killing their cattle.
Hoping to learn the truth about just what is happening, Bilott, with help from
his supervising partner in the firm, Tom Terp (Academy Award®-winner Tim
Robbins), files a complaint that marks the beginning of an epic 15-year fight uncovering
a massive dark secret that connects a growing number of unexplained deaths due
to one of the world's largest corporations. In the process, he risks everything including his future to exposing the truth that “99% of all living
things today are contaminated" by the carcinogenic synthetic carbon compound “C8” by the Dupont company.
REVIEW: Equal
parts “Erin Brockovich” (a true story) and “Michael Clayton” (not a true story) “Dark
Waters” executes seemingly a rather complicated story of chemistry, science, the
law and environmental regulations into something easily usable and very consumable
with its take it slow, no crescendo clear recitation of irrefutable facts and data.
And with a running time of 2:06 minutes Director
Todd Haynes delivers less an entertaining film and more of “we all need to know
this” kind of film. A true and fundamentally relevant film about how one corporation’s
greed and corruption literally led to many deaths and many more deaths yet to
come. The film itself does a good job in trusting and having faith in the
viewer understanding the magnitude and seriousness of what was done without
ever getting preachy, propagandizing or ever promoting a political agenda.
"Dark Waters" is not a great movie from an acting perspective (the exception being
Mark
Ruffalo). Nor is it a very memorable film from a writing and directing standpoint
either. For me it was definitely saddled with some clunky directorial and scenes
transitioning problems, a feeling of perpetual emotional dreariness and at
times was as compelling as me reading a Wikipedia page out loud. But in
the end its real strength was as an unmistakable modern-day true story of “David verses
Goliath. Always told with authenticity and seriousness that treated its real-life “little
guy” victims with genuine respect. It stayed focused on its basic cinematic mission
of showcasing how Dupont knowingly was a villain. An up front and center and throughout
deliberate bad guy who had to pay for their transgressing misdeeds.
Ultimately
the real reason to watch “Dark Waters” is for Actor Ruffalo portrayal of attorney
of Rob Bilott whose quiet dogged determination makes him a tower of moral strength
and decency even at expense to his own financial well being and his own physical
health too. And whether it was him treading about through the muddy farm hills of WVA to the respected legal halls of American court room
justice you see how Bilott meticulously worked hard in getting Dupont to eventually confess and pay
financial restitution for their willfully clear acts of poisoning the good hard-working
people of Parkersburg WV. His cause crusade never gets lost, never diminishes
and was never self-promoting or over top. Rather, Bilott the real life character and “Dark
Waters” the film both enlighten me as well reminded
me about the importance of having good men and good women doing the right
thing for good people.
3.00
Stars
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