DARK WATERS

Mark Ruffalo     Anne Hathaway     Tim Robbins     Bill Camp     Bill Pullman     Victor Garber

     Robert Bilott (Ruffalo) is a promising young attorney who has just made partner in a respected corporate law firm.  He has a number of key supporters as a result of his work defending chemical companies, who believe he will distinguish himself (and them) because of his deliberateness and passion for the law.  He will indeed live up to this faith, although not in the way his supporters think.

     Soon after starting this phase of his career, Rob is personally visited in his office by a West Virginia farmer, Wilbur Tennant (Camp), wanting representation. He has been referred by his neighbor, Rob’s beloved grandmother.  Rob patiently explains that he is a civil lawyer and not likely to serve the client well.  Tennant leaves in a huff, feeling that all his antagonism toward authorities is justified.  

     But Rob is conscientious, and visits his grandmother for more information. She reminds him that as a boy he used to go to the Tennants’ farm every summer (to swim and learn to milk cows!) and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Rob does a bit more investigation, looking at a landfill near the farm, and being shown by Tennant some of the devastation, which he thinks is perpetrated by the DuPont company (DuPont de Nemours, as they prefer to be called).  

     After doing more research into the company and getting the EPA reports, it begins to dawn on Rob that there is something to investigate (like water and air contamination, as well as animal/human organ damage.  The Tennants do not have the money to hire him, so he discusses with his boss Tom Terp (Robbins) the possibility of taking on pro bono what they foresee as a short-term project.  Terp reluctantly agrees on the basis that it will promote the Taft Law Firm’s good name.

     What is in store for them is (literally!) mountains of data for Rob to go through, unsatisfying responses from the DuPont company to his inquiries, and later on, major resistance and obstruction as a defense by DuPont, despite ever-mounting evidence against them.

     I wish I could describe to you a heroic story in which legal and political action made a decisive difference.  Although I cannot, I nevertheless urge the public to see this film (updated/extended from the Erin Brockovich) for its application to contemporary environmental and political concerns.  It’s a bit like a detective story that must accumulate data over a long period of time, and becomes a drama that is all too familiar today.

     Mark Ruffalo does an exemplary job portraying a man trying to overcome a compromised history by committing himself to helping the disadvantaged.  This comes at a cost, and we see his, his wife’s (Hathaway) and their family’s sacrifices.  Noteworthy (and perhaps award-worthy) is Bill Camp’s performance in playing a West Virginia farmer who is astute but not given credit for it by virtue of his accent, his class, and where he is from geographically (West Virginia). He successively endears others, and distances them because of his extreme (but well justified) anger. He is a significant supporting actor.

     Todd Haynes continues to surprise with his explorations into varying subjects and he and cinematographer Edward Lachman’s foray into innovative techniques in Wonderstruck, Far from Heaven, Carol, and this film, show their abilities to portray the poetic as well as the meaningful in their joint works.  I want to give a shout-out to composer Marcelo Zarvos, whose music has a paradoxical effect of being soft and lyrical, but with ominous overtones, even from the beginning.  Those tones let you know this will not be a romp through the park.  

     The movie gets into substantive issues relevant today about environmental concerns, corporate power, and the costs of social advocacy, while engaging you emotionally into the drama.

Dark Waters turn out to be toxic.

Grade:  B+                                    By Donna R. Copeland

WONDERSTRUCK

Julianne Moore     Oakes Fegley     Millicent Simmonds     Jaden Michael

Cory Michael Smith     Tom Noonan     Michelle Williams

       Unless you’ve read Brian Selznick’s work on which Todd Haynes based this film, plan to spend a fair amount of time trying to make sense of the plot and learning who the characters are.  Screenwriter Selznick actually does capture the model in his book in telling two different stories, one about a girl in 1927 and one about a boy in 1977.  I might say from the beginning that I’m not a fan of this model of storytelling; it takes more work than simply listening and seeing the story unfold.  Nevertheless, the book’s reviews are very positive, and most readers do find the exposition charming.

     The film opens when Ben (Fegley) is having one of his nightmares, and his mother (Williams) comes in to comfort him.  The next thing we learn about Ben is that he has intense curiosity about his father, but his mother insists on withholding that information “until the right time.”  When she is never able to give it, Ben takes it upon himself to follow some clues he has about the father’s whereabouts, and proceeds to go find him.  Keep in mind that he is going to be traveling from Minnesota to New York City, and just recently became deaf, so he doesn’t know sign language or lip reading.

     Ben’s story and that of Rose’s (Simmonds) are interwoven, hers in wordless black and white pictures from the 20’s, and the other in full color taking place in the ‘70’s.   There are numerous coincidental experiences each has, but the mystery of their connection is revealed only in the very last part of the film.  Rose is growing up in Hoboken, N.J., the child of divorced parents.  Her mother is a famous stage actress (Moore) in New York, but Rose lives with her father, a very stern, unemotional doctor who scolds her frequently.  She runs away to try to find her mother, despite the fact that she, like Ben, is deaf, and is mute as well.  The absence of sound in her story reflects not only the silent movies of the time, but as well her being born deaf and, consequently, mute.

     The two young actors ably carry the bulk of the film, along with some fine help from Jaden Michael, who plays a friend Ben makes at the Museum of Natural History.  Fegley, proving his skills first in Pete’s Dragon and some other minor roles, is captivating here in his earnestness and persistence.  Millicent Simmonds is a worthy counterpart with her luminous, expressive face and eyes, playing a role about which she has had direct experience in her own deafness.  In Julianne Moore’s two roles, she expresses a sample of the range of her abilities.

     Although I do regard Todd Haynes as a highly skilled director, I found some drawbacks in this production.  In addition to the fractured story-telling, it was difficult to follow sometimes simply because the notes that characters were writing to one another were presented to the audience so rapidly one didn’t have time to read them, and/or the they were dark or obscured by another object.  To me, it was an omission not to have shown Rose’s parents or Ben’s family trying to find out where they were. 

     Wonderstruck requires a certain amount of patience to sit through it, but if the viewer is impressed with Haynes earlier pictures such as Far From Heaven and I’m Not There; and Brian Selznick’s books (Hugo and Wonderstruck), this film is likely to be entertaining. 

Two stories from the ‘20s and the ‘70s interweave to tell a story of remarkable coincidences.

Grade:  C                                    By Donna R. Copeland

CAROL

Rooney Mara     Cate Blanchett     Sarah Paulson     Kyle Chandler

           Much has been made of the Lesbian relationship in Carol, but this award-winning film at Cannes (Best actress for Mara and Queer Palm for director Todd Haynes) contains much more in-depth exploration of women in the l950’s, and the trials and consequences in particular of these two women, Carol (Blanchett) and Therese (Mara), who simply don’t fit the mold.  They are independent thinkers, despite Therese’s complaint that “I say ‘yes’ to everything.” The two men (Chandler as Harge and Lacy as Richard) who claim they’re in love with Carol and Therese are completely taken aback and bewildered by the women’s resistance to being appendages.  The rejection is not only mystifying; it’s a painful narcissistic wound for them.

      Therese is a shop girl at a department store and when Carol comes in to buy a Christmas present in the Toy Department, they seem to have an instant awareness and attraction to one another.  Immediately, Therese shows that she’s not a typical 50’s girl when she says she didn’t care much for dolls as a child; she loved trains.  And Carol is then easily convinced to buy her daughter a train when she finds that the doll she was looking for is not in stock.

         This could have been the end of it, except Carol (unconsciously?) leaves her gloves on the counter and when Therese finds them and mails them to her along with the train set, Carol must thank her by offering to take her to lunch.

      The difference in class between the two women is noteworthy; Carol wears an expensive fur and goes to high-end restaurants.  When she orders a martini and quiche for lunch, Therese says she’ll have the same, although in her words, “I barely even know what to order for lunch.”  This difference in background becomes a significant issue throughout the drama that will take place.  The wealthier, older, more experienced Carol could be seen as “toying” with Therese for her own amusement; although this is not born out in the end when Carol shows moral/ethical strengths that are not obvious initially.

          The highly respected and admired Blanchett performs at her usual level of excellence with fine nuances and subtleties.  But Mara is equally good here in playing a younger woman unsure of herself and still in the process of finding out who she is and what she wants in life.  Director Haynes clearly understands women, and with screenwriter Phyllis Nagy has adapted Patricia Highsmith's novel for the screen with knowing grace, utilizing—along with the actors—the talents of musician Carter Burwell and cinematographer Edward Lachman.  Lachman uses light and screen shots to interesting effect, as does Burwell with music anticipating scenes and capturing mood.  The movie takes place at Christmastime, and the carol “Silver Bells” is perfectly apt as the two women embark on a hopeful journey together.

        Carol proceeds slowly and gently as the women’s relationship develops, although there are some jolting surprises that make the viewer sit up straight.  The ending is remarkable when Carol pleads her case in a custody battle with her husband at a meeting in the presence of lawyers, imploring them to keep the interests of their child foremost and arguing reasonably about hers and Harge’s joint responsibilities.  She warns that “a court battle could get ugly, and we’re not ugly people.”

Carol reminds women that even though we have a ways to go, contemporary women can be grateful for the progress that has brought us this far.

Grade:  A-                                               By Donna R. Copeland