Julia Roberts is back on the screen in one of her most impressive roles yet, playing the title role in the movie "Erin Brockovich."

This movie is based on the real life story of Erin Brockovich, a woman full of spitfire who would do anything to put food on the table for her three young children. Unfortunately, because of her lack of education, most employers feel Brockovich is not qualified for the jobs that she applies for. This does not stop Brockovich, though. When she is down to her last pennies in the bank, she walks into her lawyer's office and demands a job, refusing to leave until she is given one.

Her crass attitude, truck-driver vocabulary, and unique wardrobe raise quite a few eyebrows in the small firm, but these qualities, along with her hard-work, energy, and compassion, endear her to the firm's head lawyer, Ed Masry, played brilliantly by Albert Finney.

While working on one of the firm's new real estate cases, Brockovich cannot figure out why there are medical records in with the real estate information. Upon further investigation, she learns that a national utility company has been knowingly poisoning the groundwater in a small town. This company has been turning its back on the community and pretending to help the small town while watching dozens of people fall ill to a variety of diseases. The result is a true David and Goliath class action suit that attempts to bring at least monetary compensation to the victims.

For the first time in her life, Erin is respected as a professional at her job, but the job is keeping her away from her family and the first man (Aaron Eckhart) who ever respected her for being a mother.

Director Steven Soderbergh does a masterful job with the characters he is working with. He does not portray Brockovich as a perfect saint. She is a complex character with both endearing qualities and personal flaws.

Roberts takes this character and portrays her with such honesty and charisma that it brings the film to a higher level. This is one of Roberts' best performances yet. The movie hinges on her. She succeeds in keeping the audience interested in this one case where a movie like "A Civil Action" failed. Brockovich is the type of character that charms an audience because of her sharp-tongued wit and hometown girl compassion. She says things that most people only dream of saying – or think to say about a half hour too late.

If Roberts had not delivered in this role, the whole film would have fallen apart. Not only does Roberts deliver, she is able to elevate other actors in the film as well. Albert Finney is wonderful as Masry, the old ornery lawyer who needs someone like Brockovich to kick him in the rear every once in awhile. He is able to return the favor to Brockovich too. The chemistry between these two shines through on the screen as they banter back and forth with each other. They both seem to be exactly what the other needs.

Aaron Eckhart plays George, a street smart Harley-lover who moves next door. Brockovich, who has been divorced twice, does not exactly trust men anymore. George seems too good to be true, but he proves to be the man Brockovich has been looking for. He loves the kids as if they were his own and respects what Brockovich is trying to do. Their relationship adds an extra depth to the film that makes it more enjoyable.

Although this film may seem to have more appeal to women, do not write it off as only a chick flick. Erin Brockovich may be someone that many women may admire, but she is the type of person anyone can cheer for.

In these last weeks before the Oscars, few new movies come out and even fewer are worth the cost of a ticket or the time of the movie. "Erin Brockovich" is a film that is worth it.

4 out of 5 shamrocks

• Julia Roberts shines as `Erin Brockovich'
  
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