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.
Let's go get this son of a bitch.
Oh were it that simple. Our MCU heroes have slugged it out with Thanos once already and suffered one hell of a losing battle. It'll take more than military tactics and brawn, if they want a shot at redeeming all they lost. Their task will require imagination and ingenuity, along with courage, hope and no little amount of sacrifice. They'll need, in short, to do whatever it takes. That brawn will come in handy too.
I added a proviso to my (pretty incandescent) review of Avengers: Infinity War. Magnificent though that film was, its ultimate worth rested on whether or not this follow-up could make good on its promise. Stakes had been established, loss suffered. If the devastation perpetrated by the big grape-juice guy were reversed easily and with no meaningful consequence, it would cheapen everything that made the first film such a satisfying experience. Twelve months on I am relieved to say that Endgame delivers what was required of it - in terms of spectacle and entertainment, but most importantly in those of sheer dramatic weight. Put simply, it makes the events of Infinity War count.
The film opens where it should - with a harsh reminder of how Thanos' 'snap' ravaged the Earth and far beyond it. Our surviving heroes are desolate, struggling to cope with a world plunged into mourning. Their instinct is for action, but options in that regard seem few. Only when a sliver of hope appears in the form of a plan as intricate as it is desperate, do they find a way forward. And that is all you're getting from me in terms of plot (in the unlikely circumstance that you haven't seen the movie yet).
One of Endgame's most satisfying aspects is that it allows time for grief to sink in. There's no easy brushing off of those traumatising Infinity events. True the plot elements of the opening act - the first of three distinct phases - click into place with commendable swiftness. Within that space, however, is a genuine sense of how much has been destroyed. It's the kind of deep character drama that you might never have expected to find in a comic-book movie - salved with characteristic Marvel humour, but profound and heart-wrenching nonetheless. Everything else in the movie is driven by that experience of deep loss, so that when those air-punching moments arrive later on, they feel properly earned. The flawed heroes with whom fans have lived for a decade are given space to live, breathe and develop - to work out old grievances and to wrestle with new emotions in some very unexpected ways.
There's a whole lot that's unexpected here - and even if you've guessed the story's general direction in all your fan theorising, it doesn't play out precisely how you might have predicted. The shocks come thick, even in the relatively subdued Act One, and once the Avengers' plan kicks in (a mid-section of multi-stranded virtuosity), it all goes a sublime kind of nuts. Fan service takes many forms, but here it's the very best kind - smart, well-honed and rooted in a plot that demonstrates moments of genius. Those who have invested time and emotion in the MCU as a whole are rewarded by a host of mini-surprises that will shiver them to their centre with delight.
As for Act Three - we were all expecting something immense, and in regards to pure operatic grandeur these climactic scenes do not disappoint. What they achieve in addition is a sustained Lord of the Rings-style focus on the key protagonists and their various dramatic journeys, even amid the apocalyptic mayhem. The emotional investments of two (and in some cases multiple) films pay off handsomely in character beats that bring tears of sadness and/or joy. This writing-directing power team - the Russos, Markus and McFeely - has now given us four colossal Marvel movies; they knew exactly what was needed to bring this franchise-story home and landed it to perfection.
Or nearly so. The Endgame character arcs are truly daring, some - arguably - working better than others. The endpoint of one character will be a frantic and divisive talking-point for years to come. And the story's key plot device is of a type that always threatens to drive this particular geek insane (I actually woke up trying to straighten it all out in my head). But those are personal issues and I can happily set them all aside and wrestle with them later. No enterprise this vast could achieve perfection and it's a testament to all involved that they got in the ballpark, let alone within mere yards of the end line.
Avengers: Endgame doubles down on all the reasons people love the MCU - the humour, the heart and the heroism. It's intimately connected with all that's gone before, yet it brings a gravitas, a sense of closure, that's perhaps the biggest surprise of all. The actors who've made these roles iconic - Downey Jr, Evans, Johansson and the rest of them - have never treated this comic-book stuff with detached irony. They've lived and breathed it in all its glorious absurdity, allowing their characters to evolve, mature and appeal to our sympathies. This is the final stand they deserve - one that brings out these characters' best and confirms their importance for more than one generation. You remember that idea... The one to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more? Job most definitively done.
Gut Reaction: Intensity. Genuine sense of experiencing an epic, as I drank in every imagination-popping moment.
Memorable Moment: Too many to choose from, but there was one hug that I felt.
Ed's Verdict: 9.5/10. A resounding, risk-taking triumph that makes you appreciate Infinity War even more and reminds you why you love the Marvel Cinematic Universe in all its multi-faceted vastness. Unless you don't, in which case you're missing out on a whole lot of joy.
