Dark Waters

Did you make pancakes on Tuesday? It's deadly ain't it. The sizzle of the butter on the pan. The batter spreading out and bubbling as it cooks. The ease with which you can flip it once its ready. Nothing burnt, just the lovely brown of a perfectly cooked Shrove Tuesday feast. Those nonstick pans are something else aren't they. A modern miracle that makes cleaning up afterwards so simple. That Teflon coating is almost too good to be true. It's just a pity it's slowly killing us all. As you'll find out when you watch Dark Waters.

Parkersburg, West Virginia, 1999. There's something in the water and it's poisonng Wilbur Tennant's (Bill Camp) livestock rapidly and turning the remaining cattle crazed and dangerous. Wilbur suspects it's a nearby chemical company called Dupont Chemicals doing the damage and reaches out to Robert Billot (Mark Ruffalo), a corporate lawyer in Ohio for help. Robert's in a tough spot, Wilbur's a family friend making it hard to refuse him and Robert himself has just become a partner in a company who's main corporate client is none other than....Dupont Chemicals. Initially he's wary of rocking the boat but a trip to Wilbur's farm changes his mind rapidly.

We've got a real David v Golaith story here, one we've all seen before and the comparisons to Erin Brockovich are not without cause but there's something about the subdued, sincere way that director Todd Haynes and lead Mark Ruffalo tell the story that  ensures it will get under your skin. It's the polar opposite of Ruffalo's Marvel heroics and his lawyer with a conscience makes for a very solid lead but this film's secret weapon is Bill Camp. Camp's quiet rage as Wilbur is something to behold. Wilbur, the everyman, a real life character but still a composite of everyone who's been screwed over by corporate America. Watching him dealing with the hand he's been dealt is a big reminder that people on the ground never matter, they never get to win. And if they ever do, they'll never get to enjoy it.

It's this realisation that makes Dark Waters a very unsettling watch. There's no need for over egged drama or exaggerated corporation villainy. Everything we see actually happened. You'll shudder when you hear about DuPont's extreme lack of regard for the people it employed and used as de facto lab rats. The fact that they knew the damage their work was doing but that the almighty dollar mattered more. If you've ever worked for a large company you'll recognise the legalese that reduces humans down to little more than statistics. A lot of people were surprised when the news came out that Todd Haynes was directing this straight forward legal drama but like in his 2002 Douglas Sirk homage Far From Heaven he uses his story to get under the skin of the different strata's of society, to show what makes people that inhabit them tick.

Those people include Victor Garber's Phil Donnelly, more worried about the bottom line than the people who created it, Tim Robbin's snarly but essentially decent boss lawyer Tom Terp and Anne Hathaway as Sarah Billot, the wife left the carry the can when Robert's work starts to take it's toll. All do substantial, unflashy work in line with a substantial and unflashy film. When i say unflashy I mean it. Look at the pics above. A colour palette as subdued as you'll see but one that suits the tone perfectly. This is a film that should leave you feeling down about the state of the world we live in. But that doesn't mean you should avoid it. It's well worth your time.

In cinemas everywhere now.