This movie actually premiered yesterday at certain cinemas, so it was a bit of a surprise when my wife got an invitation to its special screening on the same day it was released. Usually such event would be done prior to the release of the movie. Regardless though, my wife and I accepted the invitation and went to see this at CGV Grand Indonesia for the 7PM show. OK let us find out more on the movie now.
Brief Story Line
Robert Billot (Mark Ruffalo - Now You See Me 2, 13 Going On 30 etc) an attorney in a major law firm Taft Stettinius & Hollister got a request from Wilbur Tennant (Bill Camp - Molly's Game, Vice etc), a farmer in West Virginia to assist in finding out the suspected pollution on the water in Wilbur's farm. Despite his reluctance and the hesitance from senior partner Tom Term (Tim Robbins - Mystic River, Dead Man Walking etc) Robert still tried to assist Wilbur.
As he went deeper in his investigation which involved a major corporation DuPont, Robert found out there were a lot more happening then just a water pollution. His obsession in this case though, would took the toll in his relationship with his wife Sarah (Anne Hathaway - The Hustle, Colossal etc) and DuPont's executive Phil Donnelly (Victor Garber - Argo, Alias TV series etc). Robert also cooperated with another lawyer Harry Deitzler (Bill Pullman - The Equalizer 2, Casper etc) in this case.
So what would happen with Robert Billot and what was the fact behind it all? Find them in this incredible struggle of a lawyer in exposing the truth.
End of Brief Story Line
Wow this movie was a real eye opener. It was something that I truly did not expect in finding out. The movie was actually a bit depressing with its dark and heavy feel from the start. But the ending was worth the wait as it made me and my wife had a better idea on something that we never would have known if we did not see this film. What really shocked us was the fact it possibly had an impact on our lives for so many years.
Now regarding the movie itself, I did not think this one was an entertaining film (as I thought that was not the intention of the movie makers). Instead it was supposed to deliver important message and to show the appreciation on Robert Billot's tireless effort which were shown explicitly here. From what I read in the internet, the movie was based on an article in New York Times Magazine article in 2016 titled "The Lawyer Who Became DuPont's Worst Nightmare" written by Nathaniel Rich.
For a movie with duration of > 2 hours, I felt it sufficiently showed us everything there was to know on the dirty truth hidden behind this large corporation. My wife told me she did not feel sleepy despite seeing a heavy drama genre. However, personally I thought there were times where the scenes were done overly long and I felt certain scenes were not really required and did not have significant impact on the movie's message (such as the opening scene, or few others in the middle). And I also thought that the courtroom scene a bit too short as it was actually one of the highlight in this movie. The ending was definitely a real joy to see too and there was one really emotional scene towards the end involving Robert and Sarah which affected my wife and me as well.
The cast were mostly wonderful in their portrayal. Mark Ruffalo was amazing (he looked to have a bit of body transformation to make him more alike the actual Robert Billot), Anne Hathaway also did great as Sarah the supporting wife. I also loved Tim Robbins here who gave a wonderful powerful performance in one of the scene, and my personal favorite Bill Pullman as someone who provided a bit of color even if his appearance was quite brief. Oh and don't forget Bill Camp too as Wilbur Tennant who we really sympathized. These strong performances made the movie did not feel like a documentary as there were strong emotions involved. Btw, there were surprise cameo of real life people in this film which I thought was a really nice touch. And there was no mid or post end credit scenes.
Overall this was a movie which might not appeal to general audience due to its heavy drama tone plus the possible depressed emotion after seeing it. However, it is something that we would recommend people to see just to know the irritating and scary truth of the fact which most people never know. It is also a great movie for people who like this kind of drama. But if you do not have the passion to see something like this and ended up seeing it, I really hope at least the message it tried to send is well received.
Mike's movie moments rating: 4 out of 5 stars
I would like to sincerely thank Rivki from CGV for the invitation to this wonderful event. We really appreciate it and look forward to future events.
Below are some pictures from the event:
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