At the risk of sounding churlish and even a little disingenuous, this is the kind of movie that one might expect to see Mark Ruffalo star in since he’s been pretty open about his views throughout the last couple of years. Sarika Jagtiani and Ryan Cormier of Delaware Online have made it pretty clear that DuPont is being vilified in the movie for good or ill as the story goes that a corporate lawyer crossed the line to help out the people of a small town that were being unknowingly poisoned by a strong concentration of perfluorooctanoic acid that had supposedly been caused by a plant in Parkersburg, West Virginia. Without taking sides here it looks like a movie that’s been filmed in a very strong voice and with enough suspense and thrill that it should be a pretty good movie, so long as you’re into this kind of subject. If you’re not into this kind of movie then it might not be your cup of tea, or if you have a serious problem with Ruffalo it might affect how you view the subject. But then again, if you really just want to watch the movie without any judgment then it might be worth it.
As Laura Bradley from Vanity Fair has reminded us this is from a true story in which a corporate lawyer had an obvious change of heart after defending corporations for so long. The switch is enough to make a lot of people shake their head when it comes to thinking of a person such as this growing a conscience, but it’s something that couldn’t be ignored after a while. Right now though the main focus apart from the movie is the chance that Mark Ruffalo might have at winning an Oscar for this role. He obviously wasn’t going to be getting one for his role in Infinity War or Endgame, but this could be the one that pushes his name into contention at least since the story is one that affected a lot of people and outraged even more when it was released. But the Oscar hunt could be a little tougher than people are thinking about since at this point there are a few names that might be making it a little difficult for him to simply snag the award and make off with it. There’s definitely a chance for him to be considered and for his name to be called as one of the nominees, but if he wants that Oscar at some point this movie is going to have to be on point from start to finish.
So far it would seem that the movie is pretty solid since what we’ve been shown in the trailer looks as though it might be enough to sway the people that watch it to pronounce Ruffalo as one of the best actors of the year. But then again, trying to vilify DuPont in this manner could upset a few people that go to see the movie. It’s possible, that’s all I’ll say. The idea that Katherine Schaffstall of The Hollywood Reporter is pushing along with everyone else is that this is a movie about the little guy taking on the corporate giant, which is true, and that it’s bound to be just as thrilling as any other movie that has done this in the past. This could also be true since movies based on true stories tend to be kind of edgy, risky, and even a little troubling to some since honestly they expose a part of society that, despite already being exposed in the past, will suffer scrutiny once again as people go about seeking the truth once again.
The long and short of it is that this looks like a decent movie and might actually be better than we’re thinking at the moment. There’s no hedging of bets at this point as it’s easy enough to think that this movie is going to pull on a few heartstrings thanks to the truth that people had to live through in order for this story to be told. The outcry of a nation that’s realized just what’s going on and can hopefully fact-check the issue for themselves will be something that might make the movie even more relevant in this day and age. How people will react to this is bound to be enough to push the movie forward or bury it almost overnight since as we’ve seen lately public opinion can go a long way towards lifting a movie up or knocking it off whatever pedestal it’s tried to climb. Dark Waters could be great, it could be something that will easily elevate Ruffalo into the nominee spot during the Academy Awards. But until that happens it’s best to just sit back and see what there is to see.
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