scene project take 2...

Erin Brockovich (2000) - Marg Helgenberger

I love when a director and a star are able to turn the spotlight to another player and give them their moment to shine. Those moments when the headliner of the movie is in the scene, but you forget they are even around due to the power of their scene partner. (Think Judy Holliday alongside Katharine Hepburn in her film debut, Adam's Rib)

This scene is a prime example. In case you don't know the story, Marg Helgenberger plays Donna Jensen, a woman who discovers through Erin Brockovich's (Julia Roberts) exhaustive research, that the cancer she and her husband have been battling is a result of a poisonous compound the neighboring water plant has been using. Donna and her fellow town residents decide to file a class action lawsuit against the plant, and in this scene Erin stops by to inform Donna of the settlement amount.

Helgenberger's playing of Donna's reaction to the news that she and her family will be receiving $5 million is a beautiful piece of work. The shock and joy and sudden glimmers of hope that pass over her face are so organic you forget that she's playing a character. Even Roberts seems taken aback by her sincerity. And in that last frame above when she is thanking Erin for all of her hard work, I must say that may be the most genuine display of gratitude I've seen on film...you can hear it in her voice and you can almost feel the hug she's giving Roberts.

Helgenberger really only has about 2 scenes in the film, but they are the best...it is in those moments when you think, "Julia who?"