15 Best Movies About Being Attached to Huge Corporations (Including Erin Brockovich)
Corporations are the driving force behind almost every aspect of American life, including the movies we watch. Sometimes it seems that they have all the power in their hands, and in fact it is so. But if the power of capitalism cannot be overcome, then at least it can be stopped from time to time. And it can be extremely satisfying to watch a crusader protect us all.
Here are 15 films about heroes taking on big corporations, most of which are at least inspired by true events. Usually the reality is as wild as what is shown on the screen. As The Constant Gardener author John le Carré noted at the end (and in the closing credits of the film adaptation) of his almost entirely fictional novel:
Thank goodness no one in this story and no organization or corporation is based on a real person or organization in the real world. But I can tell you this. As my journey through the pharmaceutical jungle continued, I realized that compared to reality, my story was as boring as a holiday card.
Erin Brockovich (2000)
Real life provides many examples of people standing up to corporations, with varying degrees of success. It’s one of the most inspiring projects yet: Steven Soderbergh’s legal drama that was a crowd-pleaser, a box office success, an Oscar contender, and made a star of its titular real-life activist. Julia Roberts plays Brockovich, who in 1993 was an unemployed single mother who couldn’t stay away. After landing a miserable job as a paralegal for the man who was her lawyer in a personal injury case, she stumbles upon disturbing medical records while investigating a real estate case. It soon becomes clear that the Pacific Gas and Electric Company is hiding something in Hinckley, California, namely that they are dumping chromium-contaminated waste into several ponds throughout the city, and the number of cancer cases in the area has increased significantly. This is where Erin’s dogged determination (and complete refusal to keep her mouth shut, even when she would have been better off) proves extremely useful to the residents of Hinckley, who now have an unlikely champion. You can stream Erin Brockovich onNetflix or rent it from Prime Video .
Dark Waters (2019)
Dark Waters , directed by Todd Haynes, begins with farmers discovering their livestock are dying by the hundreds due to exposure to waste in the water produced by the local DuPont chemical plant—and that’s just the beginning, as human cancer rates are also unexpectedly high. Mark Ruffalo plays lawyer Robert Bilott, who is involved in the farmers’ case. It is based on the New York Times Magazine article “The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s Worst Nightmare” by Nathaniel Rich. Haynes and company masterfully dramatize a high-stakes legal battle, as well as the problem of mutual participation – litigants become pariahs in their communities because many would rather risk cancer than risk losing a major employer. All of this has happened in the last decade, so many of the issues associated with so-called “forever chemicals” (those that never leave the bloodstream after exposure) are very relevant and will become even more prominent in the current era of deregulation. You can rent Dark Waters from Prime Video .
Insider (1999)
Michael Mann’s tale of the machinations of the tobacco industry performed only averagely at the box office, but nevertheless received seven Oscar nominations, including one for Best Picture. This story is taken from a clever, sideways perspective, focusing on a 60 Minutes article that blew the whistle on the Big Tobacco companies’ abuse of the risks of smoking – a story that made clear that these companies knew the true dangers of smoking and lied about it to keep their customers addicted. The film largely accurately depicts how CBS producer Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino) persuades former tobacco company chemist Dr. Jeffrey Wigand (Russell Crowe) to reveal what he knows, but faces resistance from fearful executives and threats from the tobacco industry. The narrative makes clear the cost of speaking even the simplest truth. You can stream The Insider on The Criterion Channel or rent it on Prime Video .
Even the Rain (2011)
In 1999, a group of investors led by the American company Bechtel invested in a dam near Cochabamba, Bolivia. The water thus contained was then sold back to local residents at much higher prices. As a result of the protests, tens of thousands of people took to the streets. In director Iciar Bollen’s incredibly ambitious film-within-a-film, a film crew led by director Sebastian (Gael García Bernal) comes to Cochabamba to film a film based on the first voyage of Christopher Columbus. His mindless executive producer Costa (Luis Tosar) causes trouble with his disrespect for the locals while water protests simmer in the background. Intertwined with themes related to the long history of colonization, the film does not shy away from drawing clear lines between past and present. You can watch Even the Rain onNetflix .
Into the Weeds (2022)
I believe the jury is still out on the risks associated with glycophosphate (the main ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide) at typical doses, but there is still something to be excited about in Dewayne “Lee” Johnson’s case against the chemical company. A school groundskeeper in California, Johnson was exposed to hundreds of gallons of the substance over the years. At the age of 42, he was diagnosed with an incurable case of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and, as this documentary shows, Johnson won his case against the chemical giant – an extremely rare victory that, even if only in a small way, attracted the attention of these companies. You can stream Into the Woods on Hoopla or rent it from Prime Video .
The Constant Gardener (2005)
Ralph Fiennes plays Justin Quayle, a British diplomat in Kenya trying to solve the murder of his wife Tessa (Rachel Weisz, who won an Oscar for the role), an Amnesty International activist. It appears Tessa was investigating deaths related to trials of a drug called Dipraxa. The film alternates between a harrowing investigation and the development of the relationship between them. Film adaptation of the novel by John le Carré. Both the book and the film were inspired by the 1996 Pfizer drug trial in Nigeria, which killed 11 children. You can rent The Constant Gardener from Prime Video .
Informant! (2009)
Nearly a decade after Erin Brockovich, Steven Soderbergh took on another real-life whistleblower, this time piercing the egos and seriousness of white-collar criminals with a dose of dark comedy. (As we should have learned by now, capitalism rewards the dumb and stupid at least as often as those with half a brain.) Matt Damon plays corporate executive Mark Whitacre, who confides in a pair of FBI agents (Scott Bakula and Joel McHale) about his involvement in a scheme to fix the prices of a commercial chemical, lysine, linked to animal agriculture. Whitacre becomes increasingly deranged as he wears a wire for the feds, and during this period his other infractions come to light. Oh, and during this he also embezzled a ton of money from the company he’s supposedly trying to expose. You can stream The Informant! on Prime Video .
Radium Girls (2018)
A fictional story about real radium girls (oddly enough, it is not based on the bestselling non-fiction book of the same name by Kate Moore). This film tells the story of Josephine and Betty Cavallo, sisters who painted dials at the American Radium factory in New Jersey. In real life, female radium workers were often called “ghost girls” because of the way the radium they worked with made their clothes and hair glow. The workers were assured that the radioactive element was completely safe, and were even advised to lick their brushes to make them thinner for painting the watches. In real life, as in the film, it was the US Radium Corporation that fought to hide the truth about the dangers of radium, blaming syphilis for illness and death long after it was clear what was happening. The back half of Radium Girls dives into the famous court case that ensued, which wasn’t entirely triumphant at the time, but it paved the way for the creation of OSHA and other safety reforms that protected workers for decades—until very recently. You can rent Radium Girls on Prime Video .
Michael Clayton (2007)
A legal drama with a bit of swagger, Michael Clayton comes from writer-director Tony Gilroy, the director who wrote and/or directed most of the Bourne films. It can be just as exciting, albeit in a completely different way. George Clooney plays the eponymous fixer, working for a large law firm, who searches for legal loopholes that will benefit clients—until he begins to develop a conscience after he discovers that his firm is working to clear the way for an agricultural chemical concern to avoid the consequences of knowingly selling a cancer-causing weed-killing drug. The drama and action are top notch as Clayton is pursued by chemical industry goons. It received seven Academy Award nominations, including one for Best Picture. You can stream Michael Clayton on Prime Video .
Harlan County, USA (1976)
Filmed as his story unfolded, Barbara Kopple’s documentary chronicles what became known as the “Brookside Strike” against the owners of the Brookside Mine and Processing Plant in Harlan County, Kentucky. Kopple’s original intention was to make a film about the efforts to overthrow the then-ubiquitous United Mine Workers of America leader W. A. Boyle, who was widely believed to be in the pockets of the mine owners (he was later convicted of plotting to murder the entire family of a reformist opponent). This explosive story turned out to be only a retreat from the brutal, bloody and violent resistance faced by the striking miners and their families. These workers were no pushovers when it came to their rights and safety in the mines; as did their wives and mothers. It’s a throwback to an era when what we might call the “white working class” (although it was not exclusively white) was still fighting fiercely against government and corporate greed. You can stream Harlan County USA on Max and The Criterion Channel.
North Country (2005)
While the film is a bit formulaic at times, no one can fault North Country for its ability to be rousing, at least in moments, or for its performances: both Charlize Theron and Frances McDormand received Oscar nominations for their performances. Although a work of fiction, the film is based on the non-fiction book Class Action by Clara Bingham and Laura Leedy Gansler, which examines the case of Jenson v. Eveleth Taconite Co., the first sexual harassment class action lawsuit in the United States, which took place in 1989. Theron plays Josie Ames, who returns to her hometown in northern Minnesota and, upon direction, takes a well-paying job at the local iron mine. old friend (McDormand). Far from being a rabble-rouser, Ames is nonetheless quick to see how women are treated in the mine: their skills are ignored and they are seen as cheap substitutes for more worthy men. Moreover, sexual harassment and even sexual violence are an everyday occurrence. With the (at first reluctant) support of her local union, Ames takes the mine to court on behalf of all the women workers, up against a huge company that is more than willing to jeopardize her own sex life. You can stream North Country on Hoopla or rent it from Prime Video .
Philadelphia (1993)
Andrew Beckett is not a traditional “little guy” but a successful senior associate at a large law firm in Philadelphia. He is also gay and closeted, and begins to show lesions (specifically Kaposi’s sarcoma) related to the AIDS diagnosis he had been hiding. When he is fired without explanation, he hires Joe Miller (Denzel Washington), one of the few lawyers who will take his wrongful termination claim. There have been few popular films about the darkest days of the first HIV/AIDS crisis (and we’re in the midst of another as effective treatments and miracle cures become increasingly scarce and unavailable), and none have had a greater cultural impact than this star-studded legal drama. It is based on the real-life case of lawyer Jeffrey Bowers and his own attorney Clarence Kane, who took on the law firm Baker McKenzie under similar circumstances, although the Hollywood version has a slightly happier ending – Bowers’ own case was not settled until eight years after his death. You can rent Philadelphia from Prime Video .
The Rainmaker (1997)
Matt Damon stars in Francis Ford Coppola’s John Grisham adaptation as Rudy S. Baylor, a broke guy who barely made it out of law school before finding himself in a profession that mostly makes him uncomfortable, not helped by the fact that his first boss is a smarmy conman played by Mickey Rourke. Convinced by negligent paralegal Dec Shifflett (Danny DeVito) to join him in a small storefront operation, the two take on three cases around which the film revolves, but the emotional core is found in the episode about a child with cancer whose treatment his insurance company refuses to fund. It quickly becomes clear that Donnie’s life cannot be saved, but the hope is that the insurance company will still be forced to treat him as a person and not just an article. It’s still relevant except for the “hope” part. You can stream The Rainmaker on Pluto TV or rent it on Prime Video .
Salt of the Earth (1954)
One of the first films we recognized as independent in the modern sense (the writer, director and producer were blacklisted), The Salt of the Earth was suppressed and dismissed as propaganda for its wild, still controversial claims that racism is bad, that women should perhaps have some rights, and that working conditions shouldn’t be terrible. Communist nonsense, of course, but presented with some dramatic flair. The film is based on a real-life strike in 1951. The film is set in “Zinc Town, New Mexico” among predominantly Mexican-American miners who are agitating for better working conditions – at least as good as those of their white counterparts. The strikers are arrested and the strike is crushed with the present and then the recently passed Taft-Hartley Act, the country’s most significant anti-union law (still in effect, by the way). A loophole allows the miners’ wives to march in their places, and the movement is led by Esperanza Quintero (Rosaura Revueltas), the spouse of an imprisoned striker. You can stream The Salt of the Earth on MGM+, Tubi, Pluto TV and Prime Video .
China Syndrome (1979)
The acclaimed movie Silkwood starring Meryl Streep, based on the real-life case of a nuclear whistleblower, is not streaming anywhere or available digitally (conspiracy!), but The China Syndrome isn’t a terrible substitute. Jane Fonda plays a reporter who begins to smell something fishy at the Ventana nuclear power plant, whose owners are handing out meaningless X-rays. It turns out there is a leak they can’t fix, and instead of shelling out that money, they release fake test results suggesting everything is fine, and of course, the tragic accidents that happen to anyone who thinks to speak out are mere coincidences. Nuclear industry executives were initially furious at the suggestion that something might go wrong at one of their plants, but things became much quieter 12 days later when the Three Mile Island nuclear accident occurred in Pennsylvania. Jane Fonda and Jack Lemmon were nominated for Oscars for their performances. You can rent The China Syndrome from Prime Video .