Directed by: Todd Haynes
Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins, Bill Pullman, Bill Camp, Victor Garber
Like 1998's A Civil Action, one of the best movies ever made about the litigation process, Dark Waters names its defendant (DuPont) and takes us through a startling, yet not unexpected series of revelations in which the monster chemical company knowingly poisoned the rivers and streams near its West Virginia plant while manufacturing Teflon. DuPont had to know, yet do those who are looking to oppose the chemical giant have enough money and fortitude to see through the years of soul-sucking litigation to its end? We find one in Rob Billott (Ruffalo), a Cincinnati attorney (and former West Virginia resident) who was recently made partner in a law firm which specializes in defending corporations like DuPont. A farmer named Wilbur, a family friend of Rob's, asks for his help in bringing suit against DuPont for poisoning his animals, and soon himself. Rob, sensing a conflict of interest, humors Wilbur (Camp), but soon discovers DuPont may indeed be dumping its chemicals into the local water supply endangering people and animals alike.
Rob asks his boss Tom Terp (Robbins) to work the case, and before we know it, years pass and Rob is plowing through boxes and boxes of discovery documents by himself in hopes of finding the smoking gun linking DuPont to the sick and dying people near its plant. DuPont hopes Rob will simply be overwhelmed and give up, but they underestimate Rob's indefatigable spirit. He knows DuPont is wrong, and will do everything in his power to bring them to justice. Not that it will be that easy.
As per the tradition of such movies, Rob is a married man with three children who spends more time at the office than at home. At first, his wife Sarah (Hathaway) supports her husband, but soon openly laments that he isn't spending any time at home. Hathaway's role is the epitome of thankless. She is there either to chide him about his lack of quality time with his family, and to support him when the screenplay requires her to. She isn't allowed much of a personality of her own, which is a pity. Since many movies based on true events play loose with the facts, it wouldn't have been such a bad idea to make Rob a bachelor so we are spared the perfunctory domestic squabbles with the Mrs. It worked for A Civil Action.
What is refreshing is how Rob's bosses support him in his endeavor (within reason) and aren't there to try and dissuade him from working the case to its bitter end. Robbins is permitted a convincing speech in which he blasts DuPont for their negligence and their lies, and it doesn't seem forced or redundant. When you see Robbins and Ruffalo stand next to each other, the stark difference in their respective height makes me wonder if Robbins is that tall, or Ruffalo is that short. Maybe a bit of both.
Dark Waters isn't a legal thriller in which spunky attorneys crack a big case and reveal their findings in a courtroom finale. It instead takes us through a legal process which is flawed, painful, and most of all very, very long. Months drag into years, and Rob clears one hurdle while only to have to jump another. His clients grow sicker, while others settle for a fraction of what they could receive. We don't see DuPont executives conspiring behind the scenes to cover anything up or hatch a plot to pollute the world, and we don't need to. Ruffalo is our guide, and while being stressed and exhausted, still plunges forward because he cares so deeply. This is a story near and dear to Ruffalo the actor, producer, and environmental activist.
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