17th of March
Dark Waters is directed by Todd Haynes and stars Mark Ruffalo and Anne Hathaway. The story is based on real life events, based on the NY Times Article “The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s Worst Nightmare”
Mark plays Rob Bilott, a Corporate Lawyer who is dragged into this environmental lawsuit against the chemical company DuPont, which has been polluting Bilott’s home town. The movie is full of intrigue and drama, as we watch the little guy take on a billion dollar company and how the lawsuit begins to affect his family and career.
As the story unfolds, the realization that this is based on real life events only further shows how crazy these events are. The chemical’s DuPont pollutes basically poisons the people of Parkersburg, West Virginia, to the point where many develop cancer. It shows the greed and corruption that company’s thrive off of, abusing and rigging the system for their own gain.
Mark Ruffalo, is an amazing actor and as a verbal environmental activist, Dark Waters feels like his love child. Mark Ruffalo has put in so much effort in not only acting but producing this film, and bringing to light the struggle and events of DuPont and their polluting.
Anna Hathaway was brilliant, an almost Oscar worthy performance as she plays the wife to Rob. Not only is the fight hard for Rob Bilott but Anna Hathaway shows how it affects Rob’s family. Anna Hathaway was brilliant and in a few scenes out shined Mark Ruffalo.
As someone without any prior knowledge going in, the mystery and the pacing of the film was great. I was always waiting for more information and curious how this lawyer was going to compete against a huge company.
The story does skip over the years, which was actually done rather smoothly and really added to the story.
I didn’t have any gripes with Dark Waters, it was an intriguing slow burning drama that kept me wanting more. I love how investigatory it was, shining the light on these acts. It felt so personal, and truly a battle similar to David vs Goliath. Dark Waters resembles the movie Spotlight quite a bit and that won best picture at the Oscars a few years ago. Dark Waters was not only entertaining but informative and truly is a must see.
Dark Waters is a 9/10 easily.
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