Film Review - Dark Waters (12A)

The system is rigged. They want us to believe that it'll protect us, but that's a lie. 

With the western world currently straining under the full weight of Covid 19 (I'm writing this on 4th April, 2020), Dark Waters presents us with an even longer-term health concern. The new strain of coronavirus will work its short-term devastation, but micro-plastic pollution in our water systems won't go away nearly so readily. Aside from being a superior drama, Todd Haynes' new feature acts as a stark reminder of that fact. Admittedly it doesn't make for the kind of distraction many of us might be seeking right now (even if there were cinemas open where we could see it), but that doesn't take away from how good a film this is.

Mark Ruffalo plays the real-life Robert Bilott, a corporate defence attorney in Cincinnati, Ohio, who specialised in defending chemical companies. That was until 1999 when (as the film recounts it) he was approached by West Virginian farmer William Tennant, regarding the death of the man's livestock and a possible connection with the a nearby DuPont chemical factory. Bilott's investigation into DuPont and subsequent decision to represent Tennant was a dramatic turn-around and one that led the lawyer - along with his vastly patient wife and family - into a decades-long legal struggle with some powerful and toxic opponants. It was a battle that exposed an environmental compromise reaching scarily far beyond one West Verginian farm.

Director Todd Haynes is best known - to me at any rate - for his colour-saturated throwback melodramas Far From Heaven and Carol. Dark Water is an entirely different proposition, as grainy and drained of colour as its title and subject matter might suggest. While reminiscent of other David and Goliath legal dramas - Erin Brokovich and The Rainmaker spring most readily to mind - this sheds light on a particularly murky real-life case, one where the power and guile of a global corporation bears down on our hero in a uniquely relentless - and sometimes frightening - fashion. Yuletide reds and greens reminscent of a Christmas scene from Carol might serve as a backdrop to one hard-fought legal victory. But it's never long before we're plunged back into the gloomy greys of corporate obfuscation and amorality. Neither Haynes' direction nor a painfully authentic screenplay from Mario Correa will spare us from reality for very long.

In the thick of it is Ruffalo, embracing this post-Avengers environmental passion project. His portrayal of Bilott is not unlike Bruce Banner in its downplayed ordinariness, only this everyman hero is fuelled by a dogged obsessive streak rather than an inner Hulk. The actor's acquaintance with the actual lawyer during production seems to have permeated deep - this is a performance with a heartfelt sense of mission. In keeping with the script he's low on courtroom fireworks, but high on long-haul determination, just like his real-life counterpart.

Anne Hathaway is meanwhile given room to create a nuanced portrayal in the traditionally thankless 'supportive spouse' role. 'I'm not just the wife', she actually articulates at one stage, this movie emphasising the toll of the legal case on the Bilotts' marriage as well as their relationship's strength. It's good to see Tim Robbins in big-screen action as the lawyer's cautioning yet supportive boss, yet the most memorable supporting performace comes perhaps from elsewhere. As the frustrated farmer whose wrath ignites the anti-DuPont fire, character actor Bill Camp is gruffly magnificent. There's no hint of sentimentality in his relationship with Bilott, just the sense of a man with nothing left to lose. Ultimately he comes to symbolise an entire community undermined by its enemies - both the invisible kind and the type that's defended by a battery of well-paid lawyers. 

On reaching the other side of the Corona crisis, it's possible that few will want to take in this drama and all its implications for global wellbeing. That'd be a shame. With Covid 19 spotlighting how capitalist societies approach issues of public health, here's a story of one company's bloody-minded refusal to put people ahead of profit. That it's true is sobering. That it's well-told makes it all the more salutary. With or without covid, Dark Waters is a tale that needed to be told in 2020.

Gut Reaction: Not thrilled as such, just deeply absorbed and increasingly hacked off.

Memorable Moment: No, Mrs Bilott, your husband hasn't gone mad.

Ed's Verdict: 8/10. Unflinching in its realistic treatment of the subject, this film offers real tough drama over air-punching victory moments. And Ruffalo's protagonist is relatably human. Turns out earth's heroes need to be a whole different kind of mighty.