`Erin Brockavich’ great role for Roberts

In theaters

“Erin Brockovich.” Directed by Steven Soderbergh. Written by Susannah Grant. Running time: 126 minutes. Rated R.

In Steven Soderbergh’s “Erin Brockovich,” Julia Roberts enjoys the role of her life. She’s Erin Brockovich, a smart, uneducated, pretty, tough woman who takes on corporate America in a padded bra, six-inch stiletto heels and hair that’s so outlandishly big, it rivals the Sydney Opera House in size and structure.

Perfect casting? You bet. Who better than Roberts to play a twice-divorced former beauty queen from Wichita, Kan., whose cheap wardrobe of skimpy skirts and bosom-revealing shirts look as if they were shrink-wrapped to her body?

Nobody’s better. In fact, it seems as if Roberts has been working her entire career toward this film. She’s done her undercover training in “The Pelican Brief,” she’s paid her dues while getting the scoop in “I Love Trouble” and “Conspiracy Theory,” and she’s even worn her share of Frederick’s of Hollywood in “Pretty Woman.”

Now, all of those elements boil together in the foulmouthed form of “Brockovich,” a true story about one woman’s crusade to find herself and her place in this world while fighting a $28 billion conglomerate.

This is exactly the type of film manufactured to stir audiences with its melodrama; think of it as “A Civil Action” crossed with “Norma Rae,” “Silkwood” and a dash of “Debbie Does Dallas.” The good news is how well Soderbergh and Roberts pull it off.

The film opens with Erin desperately seeking a job so she can feed her three children, cuts to her being broadsided in an auto accident, and then moves to reveal its true intent: Erin lands a job as a file clerk with Ed Masry (Albert Finney), the worn-out yet respectable lawyer who failed to win her auto accident claim.

At Ed’s office, Erin stumbles upon the case to end all cases: For years, Pacific Gas and Electric knowingly dumped a deadly carcinogen into the groundwater of Hinkley, Calif. People got sick, some died. What to do? The film answers by sending in Erin’s breasts to the rescue.

Like it or not, that’s how this film treats women; in scene after scene, Erin’s undercover work is clearly aided when she uncovers her cleavage. But to Soderbergh’s great credit, his film only treats Erin as the world treats beautiful women — as sex objects whose respect must be earned.

Which brings us back to Julia Roberts — she’s so good in “Brockovich,” so convincing and smart and consistently worth watching, she earns our respect, not to mention a $20 million paycheck for her trouble. Grade: B+

On video

“The Limey.” Directed by Steven Soderbergh. Written by Lem Dobbs. Running time: 89 minutes. Rated R.

Even Los Angeles is no match for a limey.

As tough and unseemly as the city looks in Steven Soderbergh’s outstanding film “The Limey,” it pales next to the tougher, wild-eyed vision of Wilson (Terrence Stamp), a steely, silver-haired, British ex-con who descends on Los Angeles with a gun in his hand and a burning mission in his gut: Find the man responsible for his daughter Jenny’s death and make him pay for it.

That man is Terry Valentine (Peter Fonda), a smarmy, super-rich record producer who is just naive enough to believe he can flirt with the big bosses of high crime — and never face the consequences.

If none of this sounds especially new, it isn’t. The film owes its soul to the works of Raymond Chandler and Chester Gould. But Soderbergh nevertheless is able to spark his film by evoking the past — literally.

In an effort to give Wilson a history, Soderbergh lifts key scenes from Ken Loach’s 1967 film, “Poor Cow,” which starred a much younger Stamp. The effect is mesmerizing, seamless — and smart.

By wedding the two films, Soderbergh not only shows his audience how Wilson’s thievery affected his relationship with his daughter, but also how affable Wilson was before the repercussions of his profession took their toll on him and those in his life.

With superb performances from Stamp, Fonda, Leslie Ann Warren, Barry Newman and Luis Guzman, “The Limey” is terrific. It’s more complex than Soderbergh’s “Out of Sight,” and more focused and visually assured than his latest, “Erin Brockovich.” It’s also more knowing, particularly with Wilson, an older man from an old country whose old ways make mincemeat out of the players in Los Angeles. Grade: A

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His reviews appear Monday and Thursday in the NEWS, Tuesday and Thursday on WLBZ’s “NEWS CENTER 5:30 Today” and “NEWS CENTER Tonight” and Saturday and Sunday on NEWS CENTER’s statewide “Morning Report.”