Hammerman Ikon

Hammerman Ikon Film Guide

Dark Waters
2019
***
Director: Todd Haynes
Cast: Mark Ruffalo, Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins, Bill Camp, Victor Garber, Mare Winningham, Bill Pullman, William Jackson Harper, Louisa Krause

After a number of mysterious animal deaths, corporate defense attorney Robert Bilott is compelled to change sides and take on chemical giant Du Pont for poisoning the local waters in Parkersburg, West Virginia. This enjoyable but unspectacular drama about a real-life lawsuit against an industrial chemical polluter follows in the footsteps of A Civil Action and Erin Brockovich. Although the film doesn't offer many surprises, it spends delightfully little time in the court room. The script by Mario Correa and Matthew Michael Carnahan is based on the 2016 New York Times Magazine article The Lawyer Who Became DuPont's Worst Nightmare by Nathaniel Rich.