Top to bottom: Anne Hathaway as Sarah Bilott; Rob’s boss,
Tom Terp (Tim Robbins); The plot continues to thicken.Hulk, sma...Mark Ruffalo
changes gear as Rob Bilott.DARK WATERS
DIRECTORTodd Haynes
CASTMark Ruffalo, Anne Hathaway, Tim RobbinsPLOTCorporate environmental lawyer Rob Bilott
(Ruffalo) is on the verge of being made partner
when he learns the water in Parkersburg, Virginia,
is being poisoned by chemical giant DuPont, a
company his firm represents. When Bilottdecides
to take the case, it begins a protracted investigation
that threatens his job, marriage and life.OUTNOW
★★★ CERTM/127 MINS[FILM]
AT ONE POINT during Dark Waters, the camera
takes the point of view of a bull waiting to charge
out-of-town lawyer Rob Bilott (Ruff alo). It’s
perhaps the only moment of visual fl ourish in
Todd Haynes’ ’70s-tinged, issue-driven drama,
a sober detailing of a complicated legal case that
never grips as much as it should to. A passion
project for Ruff alo, who also produces, it’s a slow
burn of a movie (with performances to match),
as one man takes on a giant corporation. If it
sounds like a punch-the-air triumph-of-the-underdog story, it’s one riddled with legalese
and chemical-heavy jargon, and while it’s shot
through with good moments, it never manages
to be completely gripping.
Dark Waters is cut from the same cloth
as All The President’s Men, Silkwood and
Spotlight without having the wallop of any of
them. Corporate lawyer Bilott takes on huge
corporation DuPont for dumping chemical
waste into rivers, creating environmental hazards
including the death of livestock and turning
kids’ teeth black. This crusade leads him into
confl ict with his own law fi rm, who represent
DuPont (Tim Robbins is the stern-but-fair boss),
and the Parkersburg locals who resent his
meddling as DuPont is the town’s chief source
of employment. This results in a kind of
low-energy detective story (photocopying
abounds) but still with the ability to scare. When
Bilott discovers that the poisonous chemical
perfl uorooctanoic acid (PFOA-C8) is in Tefl on
and thus in practically every American home,
you’ll want to throw away your non-stick
pans immediately.
Out of his comfort zone, Haynes fi nds
a dialled-down mode far away from the vibrancy
of Velvet Goldmine or Far From Heaven. The
world of Dark Waters is all grey skies and
miserable farmlands, the fl uorescent greens of
research basements and the beige offi ces of ’80s
corporate America, so eff ective in conveying
Bilott’s malaise. Yet the low-key approach seepsinto the drama, the levels of restraint diluting
potential thundering confrontations into
a series of chats between men in suits (the
histrionics are saved for the marriage-in-crisis
scenes between Ruff alo and a wasted Anne
Hathaway). Mario Correa and Matthew
Michael Carnahan’s screenplay also never
really corrals the fi lm’s extended timeline —
the story spans seven years — into a satisfying
narrative shape. The result is episodic, by turns
engaging and enervated.
Still, what it lacks in octane, Dark Waters
makes up for in both sturdiness and substance,
helped by Ruff alo’s ability to imbue Bilott with
dogged determination and commitment. Yet the
performance you’ll take away is Bill Camp as the
farmer who barges into Billot’s offi ce and calls
out the DuPont wrongdoing with perfectly
rendered indignation. This is Dark Waters’
strongest suit: a story that is 30 years old
but feels prescient in its highlighting of
environmental concerns. It’s just a shame the
vitality of the message is not matched by the
approach. IAN FREERVERDICT A bizarrely strait-laced project for
Todd Haynes, Dark Waters lacks dramatic
oomph but compensates via a well-mounted
telling of a terrifying story, driven by still
contemporary concerns and a convincing
central turn by Mark Ruffalo.ON SCREEN