Dark Waters: Neon NZ Film Review

Todd Haynes' safe and formulaic legal chiller Dark Waters is a solidly told tale, albeit one that never quite finds a way to rise into the upper echelons of drama, despite the presence of Mark Ruffalo.

Ruffalo is Robert Bilott, a newly-minted partner of a US legal firm that defends industrial companies.

When a farmer (Camp, in one of the more lively and complex roles of the film) shows up on his doorstep wanting to fight those who he believes have poisoned his land and his cows, Bilott finds himself torn between duty and a light familial connection to what's going on.

But as Bilott begins to investigate the malfeasance of local industrial giant Dupont (with Alias' Victor Gerber as their figurehead), he discovers the case has much more horrific wider consequences.

Dark Water is a solidly told film, anchored by the mutedly dogged performance of Ruffalo and supported by the growing outrage of Camp.

Yet, in telling it in a non-showy way, and scattering it across the timeline (A narrative necessity given how long Bilott's case has been going against Dupont), the film occasionally stutters to raise some real drama. It prefers a more quiet outrage that boils under as the reality of Dupont's shenanigans are gradually exposed.

There are moments that chill, and revelations that abhor, but Haynes' delivery of them is more restrained than perhaps it could be, as the effects on communities and even the world comes to light.

There are also times when the exposition floods some of the legal proceedings and montages of lawyering - and certainly Hathaway feels wasted after early promises threaten to expose the sexism within the boys' club industry.

Yet for all its dialled down touches, Dark Water does present a compelling story - albeit one that is good, rather than great.