Dark Waters: Streaming on Amazon Prime
Image Credit: Mark Ruffalo as Attorney Robert Billot in Dark Waters from Empire
Image Credit: Mark Ruffalo as Attorney Robert Billot in Dark Waters from Empire
Featuring Mark Ruffalo and Anne Hathaway, the true story of which Dark Waters is based on has stark parallels to the water crisis in current day Flint Michigan, with Ruffalo’s character drawing parallels to many of us pursuing a legal profession. Adapted from the ground breaking New York Times magazine article by Nathaniel Rich, this movie is a mix between a satisfying legal thriller and The Blind Side 2.0.
Ruffalo plays a tired corporate attorney who has sold the last prosperous years of his legal career representing big powerful companies. When an ordinary farmer approaches him with a conspiracy theory involving toxic chemicals and a poisoned town, Ruffalo can’t resist the chance for redemption. His decision eventually leads to one of the longest ongoing environmental suits in the United States.
The movie does an incredibly good job of highlighting what we all know about the legal profession. Its portrayal of an overwhelming imbalance between exhausting procedural intricacies and heartening small wins does well to showcase the reality of public interest law, or as The Atlantic described it, the chilling tale of corporate indifference.
