Dir: Todd Haynes (12A 126 mins)
A solid, worthy drama that makes full use of star Mark Ruffalo’s environmental credentials, this shocking true story angers and informs in concise, no nonsense style. Ruffalo plays Robert Bilott, a high flying corporate defence attorney, used to helping businesses out of troublesome lawsuits, who has a crisis of conscience when the Dupont chemical company’s misdeeds are brought to his attention.
In 1998 Ruffalo’s lawyer is confronted by a farmer from West Virginia, Wilbur Tennant played with irascible gruffness by Bill Camp. His cattle have been dying, poisoned by the water dumped by the nearby Dupont chemical plant, and as Ruffalo finds out what kills animals kills humans too. A systematic, arrogant and hideous corporate action of cheaply getting rid of a chemical called PFOA used in Teflon products, supposedly something to help our lifestyles, but it has in fact been poisoning us all for decades.
Greed comes before truth however as Ruffalo’s dogged, obsessive lawyer finds himself battling an initially charming then sinister Dupont CEO Vincent Garber. His own boss played by Tim Robbins is initially reluctant to take sides but as the conspiracy widens and the extent of the toxic dumping becomes clearer, he backs his lawyer, and gets a barnstorming speech to boot. Meanwhile Ruffalo’s family life is crumbling, always tightly wound and internal, his obsession with the case is initially baffling to his wife played with believable exasperation and compassion by Anne Hathaway.
Their relationship under strain, he is also riddled with crippling anxiety and paranoia about what could happen to him and his family at the behest of the powerful money people. Corporate America is dark and riddled with shadowy figures out to prevent justice if it affects profit. This American Dream is poisonous however, literally, and Ruffalo’s lawyer’s dogged persistence shows that although it may have taken nearly 20 years, some results can be made, but it’s far from a victory lap.
The battle is ongoing and so long as corrupt capitalism reigns profit will always come before the environment and humanity, something this pandemic has brought into sharp relief. Starkly directed by Todd Haynes, this is a quietly frightening and ongoing horror story in which all are complicit, people and the planet are subsidiary casualties for profit.
****
Words: Kieron Self
Available on DVD now