Dark Waters (Blu-Ray + DVD + Digital HD)
Blu-Ray Reviews | Mar 5th, 2020
Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins, Bill Camp, Victor Garber, Mare Winningham, Bill Pullman
Written By: Mario Correa, Matthew Michael Carnahan
Directed By: Todd Haynes
Studio: Universal Studios
Buy On Amazon.com
Dark Waters is based on a true story and something that deserves our attention since it affects all of us. It’s got a great cast, an interesting story that I didn’t even really know until I saw this. This is a legal drama about a lawyer who went up against one of the largest corporations in the country for polluting our environment and using non-EPA regulated chemicals.
The film is based on the 2016 article “The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s Worst Nightmare” by Nathaniel Rich, published in The New York Times Magazine. It was also based on other reporting from various news outlets. It centers around a defense lawyer Robert Bilott (Mark Ruffalo) who is asked to look at a Wilbur Tennatt’s (Bill Camp) land in West Virginia. There have been numerous unexplained deaths in the area, including animals and people. He discovers that one of the largest corporations in the world, DuPont, has been polluting the water supply. What he learns is that it goes much deeper than simply dumping toxic sludge in the water.
I was really interested in this film and just didn’t really know anything about it before reading a synopsis. I thought I heard about some things going on with Teflon over the years but never read it. It’s pretty scary how these big corporations can get away with practically murder for using chemicals that weren’t even regulated by the EPA, killing people that were nearby those chemicals and them not even reporting it for years. Then there’s the dumping of chemicals and sludge, which of course living in NY and NJ, you’ve known about growing up. So the result of that is now everybody having these “forever chemicals” in our body. Sounds awesome right? I’m sure some will think this film is some leftist, socialist propaganda garbage but sorry, you’re affected by this too.
After knowing the plot to this, it wasn’t a surprise to see Mark Ruffalo, Anne Hathaway and Tim Robbins starring in this movie. They are all very politically active so it makes sense. They all do an excellent job with the material, particularly Mark who was front and center. I thought the movie did a great job with showing Rob Bilott’s struggle with this fight. Having to deal with his ill clients who were cynical about getting anything done, going up against people that were once friends and giant corporations, family issues, risking his career to fight for what was right. He’s still doing it today as well. Mark’s performance showcases all of that.
The extras for Dark Waters include featurettes Uncovering Dark Waters, The Cost of Being a Hero, and The Real People. Each featurette isn’t that long but gives you enough to learn some behind the scenes stuff. Many of the real life people were there on set and even appeared in the movie as well. I thought that was pretty cool. I thought there could have been more included in the extras though.
Dark Waters is an interesting drama that I think people should see because it’s something that affects us all. Not all superheroes wear capes and Rob definitely is a hero too many. He risked so much to fight for all of us, and went up against the Thanos of corporations. Dark Waters is a strong film that didn’t get as much attention as it deserves. Check this one out!
Features:
Uncovering Dark Waters
The Cost of Being a Hero
The Real People
Video:
Codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Audio:
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French (Canada): DTS 5.1
Spanish: DTS 5.1
Subtitles:
English SDH, French, Spanish
Bottom Line: An interesting legal drama that should be seen.
Running Time: 127 mins
Rating: PG-13
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating:
