Dark Waters In cinemas on Friday
lines and physical comedy. Ferrell keeps us rooting for Pete while Louis-Dreyfus, who also has a producer credit, expertly slaloms between comedy and drama.
It’s not perfect but, hopefully, the now rebranded Searchlight Pictures (William Fox, one of Hollywood’s founders, is now out of the business) won’t stop making these ballsy little dramas.
WITH awards season drawing to a close, the increasingly unhinged US President got round to ranting about South Korean drama Parasite’s unpatriotic Oscars win.
And on Friday the UK will get a chance to see Dark Waters, the last of this year’s crop of awards movies.
The film didn’t win any gongs, which must have come as a disappointment to director Todd
Haynes and producer/star Mark Ruffalo.
Like Erin
Brockovich and Spotlight, it’s a powerful, meticulously researched true story about whistleblowers and long battles to expose corruption in high places.
These films usually do well, but this one probably wasn’t quite flashy enough to attract the attention of the judges.
Ruffalo puts in a commendably understated performance as
Cincinnati attorney Rob Bilott. He risked his career to pursue an arduous legal battle with Teflon manufacturers DuPont. Character actor Bill Camp also impresses as Wilbur Tennant, the cattle farmer who correctly linked his mountain of dead cows and his family’s ill health with a chemical dump next to his farm. Anne Hathaway is the only actor with her eye on a gong, with an overly showy take on the supportive wife role.
But Haynes, known for dramas like Carol and Velvet Goldmine, lets his story do the talking. His slow-burning and slightly predictable drama will probably feel more at home on TV, but the facts of the case are shocking enough to make you chuck out your frying pan.
It’s tempting to link the film’s US release with DuPont’s plummeting share price.
I’m guessing Haynes and Ruffalo will see that as reward enough.