"Dark Waters" is a story about a tenacious attorney (Mark Ruffalo), who uncovers a dark secret that connects a growing number of unexplained deaths to one of the world's largest corporations. While trying to expose the truth, he soon finds himself risking his future, his family and his own life.
The Good: This movie is IMPORTANT...like Erin Brockovich was important. This is a true story about corporate greed and how people die as a result of that greed. It is also heartwarming to know that a single man can put in motion events to change that. Mark Ruffalo deserves an Oscar for his portrayal of attorney Robert Bilott and his heroic effort to take on Dupont after he discovers they have been knowingly poisening people for a generation. This movie has some serious ups and down....and I won't spoil the ending. You'll know it if you know the true story.
The Bad: This film will make you angry. I walked out of the theater fully in support of changing laws to make CEO's of companies that knowing poisen people criminally liable, not just financially liable. Huge corporations actually have been known to calculate the cost of lawsuits into production lines of products they know will hurt people because. If they guy at the top who makes a decision that results in people actually dying, that CEO should go to JAIL...not just pay out stockholder money.
The Recommendation: I believe this film should be shown in school. I have a friend who is a middle school science teacher who is considering showing this film to her students. I would fully endorse that. There is both science and activism in this film, and I would hope it would inspire young people to become actively aware of what happens when big business gets involved with science without being controlled by the government and / or laws.
Go see this film.
It is now playing at the Reading Cinemas in Murrieta.