The Pelican Brief and Julia Roberts

Until I caught up with the Pelican Brief, the 1993 legal thriller based on a John Grisham novel, on television I had not reallsed how much it reflects the environmentalist spirit of our times. The plot involves a law student (played by Julia Roberts) who stumbles across a conspiracy by a big oil company which involves gross environmental destruction (including the habitat of pelicans). To protect his commercial interests the evil oil magnate is willing to corrupt politicians up to and including America’s president.

For Roberts the lead role came several years before she played an environmental campaigner in Erin Brockovic (2000). She has since become a high profile green campaigner in her own right alongside the likes of George Clooney, Al Gore and Robert F Kennedy (see post of 17 May 2008).