Roberts won a Best Actress Oscar for her performance as a brassy, divorced mother of three, at the end of her rope; she talks her way into a job in Finney's law office, then becomes obsessed with a pro bono case involving residents of a California desert town who have been exposed to poisonously polluted water. Energetic, engaging David vs. Goliath story never states -- or overstates -- the obvious, and travels far on Roberts's charisma and Finney's expertise. That's the real Erin Brockovich playing a waitress.