Dark Waters (2019)

A corporate defence attorney takes on an environmental lawsuit against a chemical company that exposes a lengthy history of pollution.

Jess' Review

Knowing nothing of the subject matter or the film itself, Dark Waters was a stab in the dark that landed uncomfortably, but not without trying. Mark Ruffalo takes centre stage as Rob Bilott, star lawyer, who finds himself embroiled in a case looking to expose the corruption of chemical giant DuPont. Another true story. (Anyone else seeing a trend?)

Visually dark and grimy, the film’s wearied cinematography lends itself to the storyline. One that juxtaposes everyday mundanity and the blind trust that comes with it, with this dangerous, festering truth just below the surface. A company knowingly poisoning its consumers. It’s a horrific realisation, ever-strengthened by DuPont’s slime-ball attempts at disarming their critics. In short, the plot itself is dark, and pretty damn depressing; documenting a familiar imbalance of power that has ultimately lead to real suffering. My intrigue as much as my repulsion, is sparked, yet within the runtime, remains somewhat subdued.

Where the film misses is with its pacing. It takes care in exploring the detailed process of overthrowing a cooperate untouchable, and delving into the lives of the many players in this piece. However, it is slow. This intricacy and caution saps the film’s intensity and shock-value. It isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but you want a film like this to have impact. Dark Waters doesn’t slap you in the face with its big reveals, it just keeps nudging you through it’s 2hr runtime. In the end, I’m left frustrated and honestly, a little depressed.

Dark Waters explores an important topic, but simply lacks the wow-factor to make any real statement. There was potential, but a story of this scope and detail would be better suited for a documentary. That being said, it’s not bad either. The mood is good, the plot emotive and the acting decent, just be warned that it might feel like a slog.

6.5/10

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Sam's Review

A dark conspiracy hidden by an evil corporation. While it may sound like some writer’s overactive imagination, it is, incredibly, a true story. Dark Waters introduces us to Robert Bilott (Mark Ruffalo) a lawyer in Cincinnati, Ohio whose firm is gate-crashed by a friend of his grandma, farmer Wilber Tennant from a small town, Parkersburg, West Virginia. (The accent is strong, and for moments it sounded like an entirely different language.) Farmer Tennant is insistent that something is poisoning his cows. And thus, we begin our descent into the rabbit hole. After travelling to Tennant’s farm, conveniently located next to a DuPont waste dump, Bilott and the audience are subjected to a toxic show and tell as Tennant shows the insides of his dead cows, proving that they didn’t die naturally.

The crusade that Bilott wages against DuPont, who the film claims was making $1,000,000,000.00 a year from their Teflon brand alone is substantial. He’s portrayed as an informant almost, having defended these companies for years he now turns his experience against them when he realises what they are doing. Dark Waters has a rawness that I enjoyed. It shows the heart-breaking pain that comes from fighting a gargantuan business that can bury you in paperwork and money until you can’t see the light. Nor did it shy away from the horrors DuPont allowed to happen in the name of profit. Or, what they’d do to keep that profit. And the film does capture an element of hopelessness that eats at you, as you wonder can David really fell Goliath this time?

I struggled with the pacing. There were long, seemingly pointless, lingering shots that frustrate you as time passes. Clever, as it is mirroring the frustration that Bilott and his clients are feeling. It is allowing us to grasp a fraction of the annoyance of time passing us by. But it is also plain annoying. And for a film with such grit, the lull would often let me lose focus on the narrative and begin thinking of other things.

It was a shame to see Anne Hathaway, playing Bilott’s wife, Sarah Barlage, reduced to a two-dimensional character. She is a brilliant actress, an Oscar winner, and if her role hadn’t been in the film, it would have made little difference. This is a battle that spans a decade, and while we see the strain on their marriage, it would have been interesting to delve into Sarah as Robert’s support system.

It’s a dark tale that shows the twisted corruption of greed. All the scarier because it is true.

7.5/10