ERIN BROCKOVICH

(Directed by Stephen Soderbergh. Starring Julia Roberts, Albert Finney, Aaron Eckhart)

FEATURING JULIA Roberts in she-can-get-feisty-too shocker! The recipient of ecstatic Stateside reviews, Steven Soderbergh's mightily entertaining based-on-a-true-story yarn somehow overcomes the sheer incongruity of its casting and manages to triumph in some style. It also represents easily the career high-point to date for its much-maligned lead actress: having spent over a decade floundering around hopelessly in crowd-pleasing rom-coms, Roberts has rarely been afforded the opportunity to demonstrate any real talent.

The plot's nothing too groundbreaking: lower-than-low legal secretary Erin Brockovich (Roberts) investigates industrial contamination and puts together a case against big bad corporate capitalist scum, thus placing the film firmly in the 'Little Guy vs. The System' category that has lately become quite fashionable (The Insider etc.). Said corporation are responsible for the pollution of a small town which has caused a sharp rise in the incidence of cancer and other maladies in the locality, and our heroine takes them on in a legal battle of wits.

Yet it's impossible to define exactly why Brockovich gets you on her side so effortlessly: she's nasty, she's neurotic, she's bitter, she's brittle, foul-mouthed and dressed like a refugee from some low-rent porno flick, all microskirts, push-up bras and see-thru blouses.

She also happens to be one of the most splendidly-scripted and delightfully spiky creations in the recent history of mainstream cinema - prickly, tempestuous, phenomenally witty - and it's a revelation to see how snugly Roberts gets under her skin. Everything around her just wilts: her kids, her boyfriend (Eckhart) and those women unfortunate enough to share office space with her all look weary and exhausted for the film's entire duration. The dialogue is unerringly funny and the narrative engrossing if predictable:

Soderbergh directs with more restraint than he's generally noted for, and the results are enormously satisfying all round.

Trash wth a real touch of class. More than worthwhile.