Silkwood (1983) User Reviews (102)

Karen Silkwood 1946-1973

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 7 January 2014]

As we don't really know what happened to Karen Silkwood for an exact certainty this film gives us a pretty accurate account of those last months of her life when a very ordinary and pedestrian life became a symbol of union activism and the power of plutocracy to have their way.

When Harvey Milk went out and became a gay activist he reflected that in the 40 years he'd been living on planet earth he hadn't really left much of a mark up to that time. Karen Silkwood didn't even have that much time left to her. The last couple of years of her life were devoted to union activism and it was that activism that indirectly or directly led to her death depending on your point of view.

As an a union leader she even faced the criticisms of her own rank and file for not working as they felt for more traditional issues like a pay raise, less hours etc. Her concentration was the plant safety at Kerr- McGee where she and others worked making plutonium pellets for nuclear fuel rods. As such she and her co-workers were exposed to radiation, exposed a lot more she feared than her employers let on. That's fairly well proved in the film and in life.

As to her death the speculation is that it was not just an automobile accident, but something that was arranged by Kerr-McGee as she was on her way to meet a New York Times reporter with documentation of Kerr- McGee's failings on the issue of safety. That's the part that has left her story a mystery until this day, a mystery that the film Silkwood takes no real position.

But despite that the film got five Oscar nominations for Meryl Streep one of her collection of Best Actress nominations for the title role. Mike Nichols got one for Best Director and there were nominations in the writing and editing categories.

Cher spread her thespian wings in Silkwood playing Streep's best friend and lesbian roommate and fellow worker. She got some deserved rave reviews and this led to a second career as actress. In her whole career Cher has never really mixed her singing and her acting. Thirty years ago she probably would have been Hollywood musicals of mixed quality so she's eschewed musical films. I think that's conscious decision she's made and it's worked out well for her.

Sadly being ignored by the Academy was Kurt Russell playing Streep's live in boyfriend. From child actor to Disney bubble gum star to action adventure films, Russell finally got a real acting role he could create a character with and did so. Mostly his career has been action/adventure stuff, but here and in other films like Unlawful Entry and the Mean Season he's shown some acting chops without shooting people or breaking heads.

The film Silkwood as a totality is not as good as the outstanding performances these three players give in it. But it still remains a testament to the life and example of Karen Silkwood.

America the beautiful

[paul2001sw-1 · 9/10 · 31 July 2004]

The lives of working class Americans are shamefully under-represented by Hollywood, and when a poor person is depicted (as something other than a criminal), it's almost always with the subtext of hope and the American dream. But hope isn't what drives someone, like the real-life Karen Silkwood, to risk her life working with plutonium for the only employer in a company town. Silkwood didn't find hope, but she did get scared, and angry, and put her job (and those of her colleagues) at stake to uncover dangerous practices before dying a mysterious death. 'Silkwood' the movie doesn't give us the glib conclusions of a conspiracy thriller (it refrains from giving an opinion on her cause of death), but it does give an excellent portrait of life at the bottom, and the mounting sense of claustrophobia and paranoia that accompanied Karen's perilous voyage of discovery. Meryl Streep does an excellent job in the title role, portraying a woman gradually losing her sanity, and the whole cast is good, even Cher in an unglamorous role. In conclusion, this is a serious and important film; and a reminder for the fortunate how hard, and ugly, life can be, even in the "land of the free".

It is worth the time!

[Sylviastel · 10/10 · 5 April 2002]

After watching Silkwood, I became fascinated and mesmerized by the true story behind it. I read the book, bought A&E biography video, and the History Channel's video: Contaminated, the Karen Silkwood Story. Despite reading other comments, I totally disagree about Karen Silkwood who probably saved more lives and lost her own to protect her colleagues and neighbors in Crescent, Oklahoma. If she had not spoke up in the seventies, Kerr-McGhee would still have a nuclear reactor plant in Crescent, Oklahoma. What most people do not know is that Karen's mysterious death haunted a huge Enronlike company. The plant closed in the following year. The shocking discoveries such as missing plutonium and horrible working conditions for its employees.

Two showers for the entire company! Karen Silkwood's life was tragically cut short but she did more in 28 years than most people can do in their entire lifetime. Meryl Streep played her wonderfully. Kurt Russell and Cher played their roles quite admirably. This film was showed to high school students who became equally fascinated by the story after viewing the history channel's video. After the film, they even wanted to watch the biography video. Now anything that can keep teenagers interested in plutonium and nuclear energy is worth all the trouble. This film's only criticism from the students was that there was too much smoking in this film. Granted, all the main characters smoked in the seventies. After all, I think lung cancer from smoking was far less riskier than working in a nuclear plant.

what you have done for others

[marycadney · 13 February 2007]

I saw "Silkwood" again recently, and it seemed to make sense of the past 25 years of my life -- I finally understood why I began doing what I do.

When I was sixteen years old I broke both legs, and was out of school for two months. But twice a week my father, who worked nights as a security guard at the Kerr-McGee office building, took me downtown to the federal courthouse in Oklahoma City, to watch the proceedings of the Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee trial during morning sessions. He insisted I go, he said, "So you'll learn something." I learned a lot about people then, and about the law, and the experience certainly took my mind off my own physical discomfort.

Mr. Paul, an excellent corporate lawyer, represented Kerr-McGee, which leased the operation of the plutonium plant in Crescent, Oklahoma, about thirty miles north of here. Mr. Spence represented the children of Karen Silkwood. Mr. Paul and his six associates seemed to change their suits every day. Perhaps they didn't want to see like the "great gray wall" -- which was the stereotype of corporate lawyers. But the net effect of seven men striving to seem individual was that of a great plumed serpent preparing to devour any small creature in its path. Mr. Spence, on the other hand, wore the same buckskin fringed coat each day. Each day he would place his Stetson on his table. He and the hat sat in splendid silence while the Kerr-McGee attorneys conferred and whispered.

Both men counted on the sentiments of a working-class jury. Mr. Paul figured people would recognize the contribution made to the community by Kerr-McGee, a locally owned business with world-wide influence, which provided many jobs to people here. Mr. Spence counted on them harboring deep suspicions, after having been treated like throw-away people for so many years by other employers of the same size as Kerr-McGee. My father was such a person. He worked for Kerr-McGee, but he distrusted corporate politics, and rightly figured they'd let him go right before he qualified for a pension. Later, that's exactly what happened.

Mr. Spence has sued the corporation for 2 million dollars. But the jury awarded him, and Karen Silkwood's children, five times that much. Later, thanks to an excellent foundation laid by Mr. Paul, Kerr-McGee was able to get the conviction overturned, then eventually settled for a payment of 1 million dollars to the grown children. Of course, Mr. Spence took about half of that, and after taxes, I suppose each of the three children had about enough to get a college education, or to buy a new truck and have a down payment on a house.

That's what happened to me. My father died not longer after being let go by Kerr-McGee. There was enough insurance money to pay for my college education. Then my mother died. For many years the social atmosphere in the Kerr-McGee offices, where one of my friends worked as a draftsman, prevented anyone from ever saying anything good about Karen Silkwood. I will not repeat was generally said about her, or her social life, her motivations or her politics.

I never met her, but I did see and hear the people who were for Karen Silkwood, and those who were against her, at the trial. It was clear to me that whatever else she may have been, she was a courageous person. By the time the movie was released, I was a junior in college, and suddenly changed my major to drama. After graduation, I found work with a film production company which filmed herds of cattle -- "Video Auction" was its name. Then I went to California, where I taught drama, or worked as a stage manager, for twenty years.

Watching "Silkwood" last week, for the first time in 24 years, reminded me of what the trial, and later the movie, showed me -- the part of you that lasts is what you have done for others. The lawyers will take everything else.

Whistle-Blowing Could Be Hazardous to Your Health.

[tfrizzell · 3 July 2002]

Intense 1980s flick that is based on the true story of Karen Silkwood (Meryl Streep in an Oscar-nominated role), a woman at a plutonium plant who began to talk about what really went on at the facility where she was employed. It seems that nuclear tampering would lead to the poisoning of the plant's employees and the pollution of the environment. Silkwood was about to talk to the New York Times about the Oklahoma plant when she died under mysterious circumstances in a car accident. The audience knows what is going to happen, but it is getting there that is the fascinating part. Mike Nichols' Oscar-nominated direction is arguably the best of his career, with the exception of his work on "The Graduate". Cher (also Oscar-nominated) proved that she was a legitimate actress as Streep's lesbian co-worker. Kurt Russell also gives his finest performance as Streep's on-again-off-again boyfriend. However with all that said, it is Meryl Streep who gives one of her finest performances in this memorable, remarkable and important motion picture. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Fear on many levels

[rwd4evr · 9/10 · 28 March 2004]

Anytime someone asks me what I'd consider the scariest movie ever, I say "Silkwood," and they say "But that's not a horror movie."

No?

There is so much to fear here, and scariest of all, probably, is the fact that the title character lived just a few decades ago, in modern-day America.

There is the fear that comes from living in poverty, or right on the edge of it. Silkwood, her cohorts, and most of her coworkers have little education; they live humble lives of church revivals, rebuilt cars, and "mystery meat" sandwiches brought for lunch in brown paper bags. The nuclear plant where they work is the only game in town (or the entire state), in terms of wages and benefits. And so, every day, they live in fear of losing their jobs. They have spent their lives being instructed to trust authority and submit to it. They are intimidated by the managers and supervisors who frown on camaraderie, and positively scowl on their labor union.

There is the fear of the unknown at the plant -- trucks being dismantled and buried behind barbed wire, under guard and under cover of darkness. Management gives the workers the minimum amount of information they need to perform their jobs, and often withhold or disguise facts that are essential to their very survival.

Karen, a somewhat rebellious, less-than-conscientious worker, is shocked into activism when her co-worker Thelma, becomes exposed to radioactive contamination, or "cooked." For me, this sequence is one of the most disturbing. Thelma is probably only in her 40s, but she looks like she's ready for retirement, due to the hard life she has lived. Her daughter is dying of cancer, and she herself wears wigs most days, because her hair is falling out. It's hard to watch the weeping, pleading Thelma being forcibly scrubbed head to toe with a stiff brush, water being shot into her eyes and nose, in a dubious attempt to "decontaminate" her. She is then patronized by a doctor who straight-facedly assures her that she has only superficial exposure and will be just fine.

There is fear when Karen sticks her neck out -- talking to union reps, traveling to Washington, and being sent back to work with a dangerous assignment: to gather evidence. At one point in the film, absolutely no one is supporting her. Her roommate feels resentful and rejected; her boyfriend has moved out, jealous of her involvement with the sophisticated people from Washington, and her co-workers treat her like a pariah, afraid that being seen talking to her will brand them as troublemakers, endangering their jobs, or even their lives.

Their worries seem more and more valid as the movie progresses. She walks into a roomful of supervisors, and they all fall silent. Suddenly, every time she walks past a radiation monitor, the alarms sound and she, like Thelma, is dragged to the dreaded decon room, where her skin is scrubbed raw -- torture chillingly disguised as medical necessity. Even her home is no longer safe. Plutonium is found in a urine sample that she brings from home, and every item in her house--right down to the wallpaper--is emptied and taken away from her. Her stone-faced, smooth-talking boss is right there, encouraging her to sign a statement that will undoubtedly absolve the company of any responsibility.

The headlights Karen sees in her rear-view mirror are not the last thing we see that frightens us. It's her wrecked car being slowly towed past the restaurant where a union meeting is still in progress.

The movie hits so many of our fear buttons: Helplessness, loneliness, rejection, vulnerability, and finally, the bottom-line thing we all fear the most. The most encouraging note is the awareness that anyone who sees this movie will come away with. It's a blueprint for empowerment.

e.w.

Brave Treatment of a Controversial Subject

[JamesHitchcock · 7/10 · 10 September 2004]

Contains spoilers

Karen Silkwood works at a nuclear processing plant in Oklahoma; the company's business involves manufacturing plutonium fuel-rods for the nuclear power industry. At the beginning of the film Karen seems to be an ordinary worker with no tendencies towards activism or political radicalism. (The fact that she and her boyfriend display a prominent Confederate battle flag in their bedroom would suggest that politically she is on the right). She changes, however, when she realises that the management of the plant have a cavalier attitude towards the health and safety of their employees, particularly the risks of radioactive contamination, and that, worse still, they are doctoring x-ray photographs of the fuel rods in order to cover up potential defects that could prove disastrous. Karen becomes a campaigner for improved safety standards, but is killed in a car crash while driving to meet a journalist to inform him of her suspicions.

I would agree with the author of the earlier comment who stated that Hollywood films rarely focus on the lives of modern working-class people, and that 'Silkwood' is one of the rare exceptions. (Films with a labour relations theme, such as 'Matewan' or 'The Molly Maguires', often have a historical setting, as though clashes between workers and employers were something from the Bad Old Days which have largely been overcome in modern society). Nevertheless, 'Silkwood' is not simply a tale of 'workers versus capitalists'. Although Karen's safety campaign has the support of her trade union's national leadership, she antagonises not only the management of the plant but also many of her fellow-workers, who value job security more than personal safety. There are few other employment opportunities in their small town, and they fear that, if forced to implement stricter safety rules, the company will simply close the plant, thus putting them out of work. There is a strong implication that the 'accident' in which Karen dies may have been arranged deliberately, but there is no hint as to who might have been responsible.

The more recent Julia Roberts film 'Erin Brockovich' owes a clear debt to 'Silkwood'. Both films are based on true stories, and in both a young single mother takes on a powerful corporation playing fast and loose with public safety. 'Erin Brockovich', with its upbeat ending, is more optimistic; it is also, in my view, the better film as its director Steven Soderbergh is able to hold our interest throughout, whereas 'Silkwood' can drag at times. The first half of the film, which concentrates as much on Karen's tangled personal life as on the main theme of nuclear safety, can seem particularly slow. Nevertheless, the film becomes more gripping in the second half, aided by a superb performance from Meryl Streep in the leading role, one of a series of great parts that made her probably the best film actress of the eighties. I am always surprised that she lost the 'Best Actress' Oscar to Shirley MacLaine's caricature of a performance in 'Terms of Endearment'. There are also excellent contributions from Kurt Russell as Karen's boyfriend Drew and from Cher, cast against type as Dolly, the dowdy lesbian who befriends Karen.

'Silkwood' is not a great film, but it is a brave one, treating a controversial social and political issue with greater freedom than we normally see in Hollywood movies. 7/10

'Silkwood', a brand name for courage, altruism and integrity ...

[ElMaruecan82 · 9/10 · 27 November 2013]

Karen Silkwood, casually chewing gum, finishes her working day by a routine cleaning task. She then leaves the room, raises her hand toward the radiation detector, as she always does, but this time, the strident alarm suddenly starts ringing, indicating that she may have been exposed to radiations. Karen tries not to panic although she's visibly shocked. And the scene cuts to the first of her three "cooking" treatments, which in nuclear jargon, means getting into a hot, long and painful decontaminating shower. That very moment is Karen Silkwood's story in microcosm, perfectly reflecting who she was and what she went through.

Basically, Karen can't see the danger pending above her frail shoulders. She's not a fool but in a tragically admirable way, she is just blinded by her own integrity. Later in the film, she just enters the door, and the sound startles us again, we have a quick glimpse on the "Danger Radiation" signal, then it cuts to her cries of fear and disbelief under the hot shower, again. The sad irony is that Karen tried to apply some cleansing on the field of ethics, in the Nuclear factory she worked in, but the more she tried, the more tortured she was by the 'invisible enemy'. And the frequency of the shower scenes plays like the omen of a series of misfortunes leading up to a tragic conclusion, the ultimate 'cleaning'.

Indeed, we all know that Karen Silkwood died in a mysterious car accident, so the shower scenes, each time more intense and haunting, marks the beginning of the end for Karen Silkwood. But as aware as we are about the facts, there's something in Karen's portrayal by Meryl Streep and in Mike Nichols' sober directing that don't get us prepared to it. Karen is no more idealistic than any other, she lives her life, she jokes and smokes, a lot as a matter of fact, she enjoys flirting, teasing her friends, she's like any small-town girl of her generation. "Silkwood" borrows many elements from 70's dramas like "Serpico", "Norma Rae" or "The China Syndrome", movies featuring ordinary persons, so dedicated to their job they couldn't close their eyes on some unethical practices and made outcasts of themselves by blowing the whistle.

Karen belongs to America's struggling, unorganized working class. Her three children live with her ex-husband, and she shares a ramshackle house with her boyfriend Drew and lesbian friend Dolly, superbly played by Kurt Russell and Cher. As to emphasize the fact that the factory nourishes the town, they also happen to be co-workers. Indeed, whether a cotton mill or corporate police, the factory producing plutonium fuel rods for nuclear reactors, is only the setting and the film deals with a sincere austerity a slice of American workers' ordinary lives in a crisis-stricken America, with a more dramatic turn since it's a life-and-death situation, governed by pure profits' motives.

When the plant falls into an important contract and workers are forced to work over hours and falsify some records, the effect on their health is perceived as minor collateral damage, a chance even workers are ready to take, because at least, their wages is a valuable certitude. "Silkwood" chronicles Karen's double evolution: her ascension from a worker to a union activist, traveling to Washington, interacting with union officials, testifying before the Energy Atomic Commission and revealing that some records are altered. And in the same time, there's a descent into the outcast status, making her more and more undesirable, but in the meantime, more and more determined to conduct the investigation on her own.

Karen died the night she was supposed to give documentation to New York Times reporter but none of it was found in her crushed car, except convenient hints indicating that she was drugged and 'fall in sleep" while driving. From all the previous heroes I mentioned, Silkwood is the most tragic character because she paid the highest price. And what makes the story so heart-breaking is that it's not until it's too late, that she realizes she's been sailing on trouble waters. I'm still haunted by the last shot of Karen blinded by headlights on her rear view mirror. Is she worried, surprised? or does she literally see the light, realizing where her fight has lead up and is probably aware of what's awaiting her?

We're only left with our sorrow, sadness and disbelief shared by her co-workers and friends when the crushed car is dragged to town. And it's the bold and abrupt realism that emotionally enhances the film, it's set in 1974, but the feeling is so authentic I felt like it was made in 1974.Nichols' doesn't stylize the film, shot like a documentary. The big corporations aren't vilified as Karen isn't romanticized either. The only time the 'David vs. Goliath' aspect of her fight is hinted is when she looks for retouched negatives of faulty fuel rods and is confronted by Craig T. Nelson. She tells him she's looking for her pills, but the intimidating towering presence of Nelson accentuates Karen's vulnerability and provides the first hints of danger.

Realistic dramas like "Silkwood" can only rely on performances and Meryl Streep dilutes herself as Karen Silkwood. She wasn't thirty in "Kramer vs. Kramer" but she conveyed a classy maturity, she's older in "Silkwood" but she looks like a 28-year old woman with that mixture of tenderness and carelessness, and so deeply rooted altruism. I didn't know Meryl Streep could look so adorable, so childish, being sometimes naughty, yet revealing a stronger side than anyone, something she didn't knew she had.

That's the stuff heroes are made on and I was sad to see that Karen Silkwood was only listed as 47 on AFI's Top 50 Heroes, so far below Norma Rae (#17) and Erin Brokovich (#31), especially since the reason why I loved "Silkwood" is precisely why I didn't like "Erin Brokovich".

Depressing Realism

[Lechuguilla · 10/10 · 28 November 2014]

The plot of "Silkwood" is fairly close to my memory of major events as they played out in Oklahoma, and reported by local news over multiple weeks. A lone individual up against a big corporation is always a compelling story. In this case, the individual, Karen Silkwood (Meryl Streep), proved morally superior to Kerr-McGee, even though the story ends tragically. This film is unusual in that the plot and characters are not exaggerated at all.

Quite aside from the film's deep political and social themes, "Silkwood" excels at a personal level. All the characters are real people, and the script and actors convey deep and meaningful characterizations. This is true even of secondary characters like Thelma (Sudie Bond) and Mr. Hurley (Bruce McGill), for example. These peoples' lives are all rather common and dreary, but what a welcome change from the contrived and two-dimensional characters in most films.

Detailed production design matches the dreariness and bleakness of these blue-collar workers in rural America. The naked light bulb that hangs from the ceiling in Silkwood's house; the drab green paint peeling off kitchen cabinets; that old beat-up white car Karen drives. On and on, the settings are realistic and appropriately depressing. The low-key, country/banjo score amplifies the realism of time and place, as does the old gospel hymn "Amazing Grace".

Casting is ideal. I don't know how the acting could have been improved. Meryl Streep just disappears into the role of Karen Silkwood. Both Kurt Russell and Cher deserved awards. Even minor roles are well cast, and the performances are terrific.

Color cinematography is quite good. Night scenes, both interior and exterior, are impressive. There's one scene in the second half where Karen and Dolly (Cher) sit out on the front porch in a swing; it's night; Dolly is crying and Karen reassures her with a soft version of the song "Hush-a-bye, don't you cry, go to sleep little baby, when you wake…". As the camera backs away, we see that drab, lonely house with a melancholy Karen and Dolly, an image that is powerfully haunting.

"Silkwood" conveys a highly realistic, true-life story about a very ordinary young woman who, despite personal issues and imperfections, takes big risks to do what is morally right. The film is sad, depressing, and very well made. It easily ranks among my twenty best films of all time.

All Space Filled

[tedg · 26 September 2008]

The story here: Large company doing dangerous things, puts the nation and its employees in harm's way. One of these is tracked, her loves disappointments and death. Indeed, the nuclear complex at the center of this story (closed) is now the world's largest Superfund site, costing over two billion dollars a year just to monitor. The problems there were related to what you see here on screen.

Somehow the steam has gone out of this story, as in the modern era the trespasses of government and big business even make this seem small comparing consequences. But there are some interesting elements of this film that make it a joy to watch.

The unseen villain here is radiation. You cannot see it. After the fact, you can track it using the same methods (in movie terms) as a regular detective. But its pervasive and final. Its a reflection of noir that there is an unseen force, controlled subconsciously by the audience that changes the ordinary lives we randomly choose. Has to be ordinary people. Mike Nichols understands this. Its why, I think, he chose this project.

You see, Mike's talent is in filling all the space. He fills the frame. He fills the lives, the dialog. There's depth there. Its not depth in the emotional sense — he is careful to keep the arc clean and easy to read. No, its just that he leaves no space empty. Even the framing of a shot has the sort of clutter you find in real life. There's no stage cleanliness where if you see something you know it will factor in the story.

He does this editing-wise as well. There's a deliberate shortening of each scene by a fraction of a second from the norm. It doesn't seem rushed; there's not that sort of hurry. It just seems densely packed.

Streep has some flaws as an actress. But this is one approach to film she fully understands and inhabits. Watch her. She's got something going with every part of her body every moment. Its not nervousness, and most of it has nothing to do with supporting the character or story in the usual, direct ways. She's just filling space, that space that Nichols has allocated to her, that falls within the boundaries she is given.

Its really quite wonderful in terms of the craft. I don't find it all that effective myself. I prefer someone who understands the holes and voids, the dissymmetries and incomprehensibles. These are the things that capture us. If you understand those, and how to modulate them in at least one of the ways Nichols has learned to demodulate, then you have a start at film-making.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

Meryl Streep is the best

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 14 July 2016]

Karen Silkwood (Meryl Streep) lives in Oklahoma with her boyfriend Drew Stephens (Kurt Russell) and best friend lesbian Dolly Pelliker (Cher). Her kids live with their father in Texas. The three friends are low-skilled workers at the Kerr-McGee Cimarron Site where they manufacture fuel rods for nuclear reactors. With mounting work and lax safety, Karen starts to talk union causing tension with the company. Eventually, she gets mysteriously irradiated.

Meryl Streep is the best. She delivers a fully-fleshed out character of real depth. The movie is a bit slow and meandering. It would be great to have a tighter and more direct film. Then there is the final text. It seems like a bunch of stuff from the legal department to safeguard against lawsuits. They may as well fictionalize the movie instead. The performances are terrific. The story is compelling.

We're all nuked and going to Hell.

[lee_eisenberg · 10/10 · 30 March 2006]

Apparently, when "Silkwood" came out, Mike Nichols hadn't released a notable movie since "The Fortune" nearly killed his career eight years earlier. If we call this his comeback, then it was sure a good comeback. Donning one of her many accents from over the years - in this case Oklahoman - Meryl Streep plays Karen Silkwood, a plutonium processing plant employee who sought to expose the dangerous conditions in her workplace...and mysteriously died in a car wreck.

This is the sort of opportunity to be idiotically preachy, but the movie never degenerates into that. It shows how the plant's owners poisoned her and psychologically berated her. This brings to mind the overall issue of how the nuclear age affected the whole planet. Nuclear tests by both the US and USSR left the whole world irradiated. Nuclear power may be discredited, but apparently NO PERSON ON EARTH has escaped nuclear fallout. So much for progress.

All in all, "Silkwood" is a really good movie. It's surprising to see Kurt Russell and Cher (as Karen's roommates Drew Stephens and Dolly Pelliker) in this sort of movie; we associate him with kick-ass roles and her with treacly roles. But they do a very good job. Also starring Craig T. Nelson, Diana Scarwid, Fred Ward, Ron Silver, and Bruce McGill.

powerful story

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 3 November 2013]

Meryl Streep stars as "Silkwood," a 1983 film directed by Mike Nichols and also starring Kurt Russell, Cher, Craig T. Nelson, Diana Scarwid, and Ron Silver.

This is the true story of Karen Silkwood, a whistleblower at the plutonium processing plant at which she worked. Nearly everyone works for the plant, and when Karen volunteers to be part of the union's efforts to stay in the plant, she becomes a threat to everyone.

After maintaining a union presence in the company, the union's next step is to negotiate a contract. Part of its work is investigating the safety features of the plant, which are woefully lacking. Karen herself is exposed to plutonium, and the question today is was it deliberate, as the levels were very high.

Very good film, done in a very naturalistic style and showing not only the shabby way in which workers were treated, but the fact that most of them were lower class, working lots of hours under dangerous conditions. It's not a happy ending, as I guess most people know, and again, the question is, was Silkwood killed in an accident en route to meet with a New York Times reporter, or was it an arranged accident? And if she had documents, there were none at the scene.

What's not shown in the film is that the plant eventually was shut down, and Silkwood's family sued and won a large settlement. This settlement was reduced, but then restored. Rather than appeal, the company paid a substantial amount of money but never admitted liability.

Meryl Streep is fantastic as Silkwood, a hard worker, well-liked initially, who loved to laugh. She was courageous in the sense that she saw a wrong and wanted to do her part to right it without a lot of fanfare. Like everyone in the film, there is no artifice to Streep's portrayal. It's all done in a very natural style, and that includes the sound, which is not overamplified. Cher is wonderful as her lesbian friend Dolly, and Kurt Russell effective as her boyfriend.

There were several films like this in the '80s and '90s - Norma Rae was one, and even though it's not about workers, The China Syndrome is another as it deals with dangerous conditions in a nuclear plant. Later there was A Civil Action, The Firm, Afterburn, The Insider, Erin Brokovich. Silkwood was an important movie with an important message, and it undoubtedly served as inspiration for the films that followed it.

Considering the time period, a pretty good film.

[devron1 · 8/10 · 23 October 2003]

I took the time to register with IMDB just to present a more accurate review of this movie than the person that wrote that the movie was a joke. While not one of the best movies of its type, it's still pretty well done. The story moves along well....clues are dropped throughout the movie to show the possible conspiracy at work. I would consider "The Insider" as one of the better movies of this type that was made in recent years, and even that movie shows traces of having evolved from movies like Silkwood.

I find most movies of this type that were done in the 80s as generally pretty cheesy. Silkwood does a pretty good job of "not being too cheesy". And if there is any trace of "cheesiness" (if you will), it's represented in the way that the townspeople react to Karen Silkwood. And the reactions worked for me, because when I think of how seriously people reacted to issues like nuclear or toxic contamination back in the late 70s/early 80s, there was a lot less info available. Nowadays in the "Oprah" and "11 o'clock news warnings" generation, where there's something new that we should be cautious of everyday, these types of stories are much more believable.

Meryl Streep (as expected) far outshines the rest of the cast. Kurt Russell turns out a pretty nice performance. Cher's performance was ok. I think at the time she probably received a lot more recognition for this role because it began to show her range. But she's been better in subsequent roles.

All in all, Silkwood is a movie that doesn't suprise or open the eyes of all the conspiracy- conscious people that are alive in 2003, but it does provide a touching story about a town that was dealing with the prospect of having to choose between the risk of toxic infection and their livelihood. But the real story here is about the one woman that cared enough to dig a little and ask a few questions and the danger that developed from taking a stand. 8 out of 10.

I think many reviews miss the point

[LoliRyder · 8/10 · 2 August 2003]

One of the things that many movies are missing these days are the small details and things that happen in everyday life - and how we are able to learn about characters through small visual clues rather than the large hammer of exposition-driven dialogue.

For instance, in the scene where the characters are looking at the slides of the trip to Washington: towards the end are two photos with Streep and Ron Silver's character. In the second photo, she leans into him a little bit. That tiny bit of body language makes us wonder - and Kurt Russell's character too. He suddenly moves his arm from around Streep's and suddenly she's aware that something's wrong. It's all in the unspoken. There isn't a preceding scene where she picks up the other guy, or goes to bed with him or even lies to Kurt Russell. It just cuts to this scene, and we the viewer learn along with Kurt that she's been unfaithful - which also reveals a little more about this person Karen Silkwood.

She's not a perfect hero - she's flighty, irresponsible, impulsive and non-committal - so the question becomes, why did she change? Why did she risk her life when she finally truly understood the risks? And how does Kurt Russell come to terms with this changed person he is in love with, given that he is just a guy who knows how to fix a car not save the world?

Watch Mike Nichols' inspired direction; he rarely cuts away in the middle of a scene. A lot of Kurt, Cher and Meryl's acting happens all in one take. *That's* truly good acting and directing.

Good dialogue in a film is in knowing what's happening without it being said. Don't fast forward the first hour - really pay attention and see how much you learn from the small details that will enrich your viewing of this film.

Compelling Drama

[Theo Robertson · 8/10 · 14 January 2006]

A common question to this movie is: If Karen Silkwood and her colleagues are so worried about being contaminated by plutonium at a processing plant then why do they smoke so many cigarettes if they're worried about their health ?

Duh

Because they volunteered to smoke ! They're adults and as adults they should be able to choose their own paths to hell . Even in 1973 the setting of this bio-pic everyone knew the risks of smoking related diseases and it's their health so if they want to ruin their health why should they be stopped from doing so ?

!!!! MILD SPOILERS !!!!

I don't know if it's irony on the point of director Mike Nichols but there does seem to be an awful lot of cigarette consumption in this movie . Certainly if there's any one wanting to give up the weed they should give this movie a miss . But the point remains that in 1973 ciggie packets carried government health warnings and everyone knew of the dangers even though they didn't want to admit it . Was the plutonium industry quite so honest ?

What I liked about this collaboration between director Nichols and screenwriters Alice Arlen and Nora Ephron is that the audience is allowed to think for themselves on the issue of conspiracies and possible state sanctioned murders . Was Karen Silkwood bumped off for knowing too much and for being a trouble maker ? Possibly states the film but much of this is left somewhat ambiguous unlike say JFK by Oliver Stone . Likewise Karen's urine sample . Was it tampered with or was the radiation levels high because Karen was contaminated by a plutonium leak ? Once again the audience is left to make up there own minds

Some people have criticized SILKWOOD because it feels very much like one of those cheap TVMs that even having a well known cast can't disguise . I won't disagree too much but this is because films of the period lacked much gloss and you can probably use the opposite argument in that nowadays Hollywood movies feature too much gloss and visual superficiality . Compare SILKWOOD with THE INSIDER or ERIN BROCKOVICH and make up your own mind if one's not glossy enough or the other two are too glossy to be effective . Certainly Nichols directs a scene where Karen walks through detectors and a jump cut occurs where she is undergoing decontamination procedure . I have no idea why but this scene shocked me to the core and this scene alone makes SILKWOOD a very memorable movie

Meryl Streep at her best

[StreepFan126 · 2 October 2002]

Even though you already now how the movie ends just by reading the taglines, there is still a strong element of suspense in this film, about Karen Silkwood who suspects that the lives of hereself and her co-workers are in danger. It is a well written film, and masterfully acted by Streep and her castmates. This one makes Julia Roberts in Erin Brochievich look really bad.

Great film.....

[pratikg462 · 10/10 · 17 August 2019]

Its a great movie based on true facts. Great acting.

Amazing grace of 2 women: Silkwood and Streep

[sherineyousery · 8/10 · 22 June 2014]

What does your own hero look like ?

How do you judge people ?

When should you let go ? And when should you stick around ?

With "amazing grace", the beautiful Meryl Streep and Karen Silkwood have both tried to answer our questions. This wonderful movie wasn't about Silkwood's bravery in demanding people's absolutely basic rights only.

Most of people judge others by their own definition of "honour". You tell a friend about how this woman sleeps with everyone and the word goes on about how this promiscuous woman is a devil. This portrayal of Karen Silkwood will definitely conquer your image and your ways of judgment. As you can see her life ends, you'll know what really matters in life and what real honour looks like. You'll know that each one of us has their own demons, and some more than others, maybe for the bigger part, because they've witnessed what the rest didn't in their lives. You can never judge this woman saying she left her children when she's fighting for the framed pictures they're taking from her as they've found her house's contaminated, you can never judge her emotional and sexual behaviour when you see the look - to Drew- in her eyes before she dies and you can never judge the quality of her life given her psychological disturbance. This beautiful woman fought for what really matters in this life: end of fear .. end of blackmail for money and food. She's a hero by all means, defying all sorts of authorities with absolutely no support most of the time. You can see the struggles of being with someone who wouldn't save the world like you're trying to, but turns out to love you as you are with all your demons.

The real lesson for most people in this movie was about bravery and courage, but for me, it was mostly about acceptance, judgment and what really matters in this life.I can't thank Meryl Streep, Cher, Kurt Russel and Director Mike Nichols enough for this masterpiece, especially the ever-amazing and graceful, Mrs Streep .. You've taught me more than I've ever learnt from anybody in my own life.

Very dark and frightening

[HotToastyRag · 6/10 · 10 May 2020]

Aren't movies about nuclear power plants scary? If you agree, you can probably trace your fear back to the Meryl Streep drama Silkwood, in which she plays a factory worker who gets contaminated with radiation. It's one of those scenes you never forget, when she walks through her daily scanner and sets off the alarm. When she gets scoured and isolated, she knows there's nothing can be done. She's been contaminated.

In the supporting cast are Kurt Russell, Cher, Craig T. Nelson, Fred Ward, and David Strathairn. This is one of those dramas that take you on a mysterious ride as it raises questions it doesn't answer. You'll be frightened, confused, and suspicious, and if you like conspiracy theory movies, you'll love it. It's been compared to Erin Brockovich, which I understand, but don't expect it to be too similar. There's no perky banter to provide comic relief. This one's extremely dark. Meryl does have an adorable haircut, but it does little to cut the peril of her situation.

Amazing Grace

[rollernerd · 7/10 · 29 September 2020]

Welcome back to another edition of Adam's Reviews!! **queue in intro music**

Today's movie review is the true story drama Silkwood (1983) based on the story of Karen Silkwood who is an ordinary worker at a plutonium processing plant who becomes concerned with the safety practices and becomes part of the union to raise awareness of the lack of health and safety precautions at the plant. The queen herself Meryl Streep portrays Karen as a hard-working, passionate and funny young woman who tried to make a difference. Her vocal opinions around her company made quite a few people mad simply because she told the truth as she saw it and did what she thought was right around the violations that could harm everyone not just at the plant but the whole state. As mentioned in the movie, plutonium can cause Cancer and other long-term illnesses.

The movie itself is not a conspiracy but more of a human perspective of living in tough Americana conditions. There is no labelling of villains in this flick nor is it suggesting that making plutonium fuel rods for nuclear reactors is dangerous. The movie is more about displaying the working-class citizens in America who are slaves for big corporate firms and must work to make ends meet plus to avoid losing their only consistent income. This even means working long hours seven days a week. Meryl brings out another outstanding performance by portraying someone who is punished for her thoughts and opinions. Her role is so convincing it is as if I am more watching a documentary of the life of this woman rather than watching a movie. The movie doesn't play itself as a mystery or a suspicious ploy but more of what transpired. The scene where Streep's character Karen is exposed to high levels of radiation is really believable and gut-wrenching.

The other cast members of this flick includes Kurt Russell who plays Drew Stephens, Karen's boyfriend and Cher who plays Dolly Pelliker, Karen's roommate. Cher did an amazing job as the unglamorous lesbian friend who is trying to take each ugly hard day as it is yet is still loyal and stores whatever leftovers there are in the fridge. Her laid back approach to life is a mask which is filled with sadness. Kurt Russell gives a solid performance and shows he is not just an action star. The combinations of both actors make this movie believable and strong.

Spoiler alert the film ends with Karen Silkwood getting into a mysterious car accident and died at the scene. She was on her way to deliver some documents to a New York Times reporter when her car left the road. The documents were never found. Was the accident caused in some way? Was she murdered? The movie doesn't say and ends there. Nor does it point suspicion only toward the company. If this is what really transpired of a woman been vocal yet scared of jeopardizing her job to uncover dangerous practices before dying a mysterious death - it does make you wonder...was it the corporate organisation? The movie puts a touching story about a town that was dealing with the prospect of having to choose between the risk of toxic infection and their livelihood and the tragic story of a woman who had courage to reveal what was happening and the danger that developed from taking a stand. Overall, 7.5/10

Plutonium vs Meryl Streep: Go!

[Quinoa1984 · 9/10 · 30 March 2016]

I have no idea deep down if Karen Silkwood was a martyr, and in the case of the Mike Nichols movie (co scripted by Nora Ephron), there's a part of me that almost doesn't care. It's not that I don't care about how she (spoiler?) died, as it was a tragedy and there were certainly circumstances around it that made it abhorrent. But a movie has to rest on its characters and how the emotional through-line works, not just just it's subject matter, and in that department it soars on showing people in circumstances that could be anybody in the working class (yes, it's Oklahoma and yes there is a Confederate flag in a bedroom which doesn't make Kurt Russel's character totally endearing, but still).

Indeed a film like this reminded me why I had an issue with Erin Brockovich, which dealt with another down-on-her-luck says-whats-on-her-mind woman (also a mother) up against a corrupt system, and that was simply that I couldn't get invested in her or the script made her too much of a tough-talker (however close it might've been to real life who knows). In this case I got completely invested with Karen and how she had, frankly, flaws but also a lot of good humor about things in her life and related well (up to certain points) with her man Drew and her roommate Dolly (Cher). Of course the fact that it deals with radiation and plutonium and how dangerous it can be - nay, how in this story this plants f***-ups could have led to millions of people dying through not documenting things correctly - makes for compelling drama.

But I think the power of the movie is that it's not *just* about that, and that Nichols and Ephron and the actors can use the dramatic "plot" if you will in Karen dealing with the unions and then getting in deeper with sort of spying on her organization for other things that aren't being reported on (whistleblowing, in short), and it's a sign that the filmmakers had a good sense on the material to show that the Karen of this story isn't necessarily so great at this. She's a working woman who gets by day to day and tries to not get contaminated - at first she does by accident, and then other times it happens... more on purpose, perhaps, who can say, it's likely just that - and seeing her try to lie her way out of sneaking pictures out of fellow worker Craig T Nelson's desk drawer certainly has some level of suspense (mostly due to how Streep and Nelson act so well off one another, both knowing the other knows what's up, probably, hear how they say the words).

It's important I think to note how we only see Karen's kids in a couple of scenes - they live with the father, and we can assume she has limited, if at all, visitation rights - so this leaves her all the more on her own once she hits rough patches with Drew (Russell makes this such a fascinating guy to play, a man who sees Karen as "two people, one I love, the other is a pain in the ass"), and with Dolly, though that's much briefer. I also liked seeing how Cher managed around in scenes where she had to strip away her usual, well, 'Cher'-ness, but at the same time she's not using her lack of makeup or frumpy demeanor to do the acting for her and she takes and gives as good as acting-mammoths like Streep and Russell give to her. The scenes at the Silkwood house are the heart of the movie, and it's here where we see much of Ephron/Arlen's dialog shine (sometimes comic, but more in a fluid style where it's less about getting laughs than simply being there from one real moment to the next).

I wonder if I watched this again if I'd get even more out of the side dealing with the "issues" so to speak, meaning that I'd focus more on the hazards of the unions and the nuclear situations and plutonium (don't let it get in your lungs, remember that!) I got enough out of that to see that as a solid story of malfeasance at best and criminal acts at worst (the face of the sort of corporate-drone is seen best with Bruce McGill's character, who offers help to Karen in the same tone as he gives out orders to get back to work). And yet I just keep thinking about those scenes with Streep and Russell in bed, talking about this or that, or that scene between Karen and Dolly on the front porch at night where they just hold each other both trying not to be completely broken by what the world's doing to them at that moment, or the different modes emotionally Streep takes Karen when she goes through discovering she herself is contaminated from her home. It's a tragic human roller-coaster first, issue movie second, though not without some wit sprinkled throughout which is kind of a minor miracle for a story like this.

Only the very end gets to be a bit much (Amazing Grace, only Streep's voice), not that it isn't earned. 9.5/10

Silkwood's in A Chemical Mix ***1/2

[edwagreen · 9/10 · 1 January 2014]

Meryl Streep, the master of dialects and drawls, is at it again in this biography of metallurgy worker Karen Silkwood, who may have very well been done away with to prevent her from bringing out the truth of exposure of workers in a certain Texas plutonium plant's exposure to the deadly chemical.

Streep starts off as a good-time southern girl with several illegitimate children from one man who she has left and taken up with Kurt Russell. Cher, is a long for the ride, as the woman she lives with, a lesbian whose makeup in the film seems to reveal much exposure to the chemical. Kudos to the make-up artist for Cher in the film.

Silkwood becomes another Norma Rae, fighting for the dignity of workers and keeping the union going within the factory.

This tragic story reveals the nature of the dangers of exposure to chemical compounds and what industry will do to keep the workers quiet.

Slow and depressing but some brilliant moments make it worth it

[tenthousandtattoos · 7/10 · 2 July 2007]

The only gripe I have with this brilliant film is the Australian-DVD-release cover. Being born in 1979 and not knowing much about Karen Silkwood, it was disappointing to read the ENTIRE plot of the film, including the ending, on the back of the DVD. I had seen this movie years and years earlier, and I didn't remember the ending. It's enough to say it's the Karen Silkwood story, and then let the film speak for itself, because it speaks volumes.

This, I think, is one of those "quiet" films that have sort of disappeared from view nowadays, except for die-hard Meryl Streep fans I suppose. All I remember from seeing Silkwood as a child was being extremely disturbed by the "decontamination shower" scenes in which people are scrubbed down with hard brushes that cause welts on the skin, and they are blasted with either extremely hot or extremely cold water (its not made clear which, but either would be unpleasant i imagine). That this method of decon is not even effective, makes these scenes even more distressing to watch.

The film is quiet, dialogue driven, but that's not to say it's brilliant...in fact, it is very slow, and today's audiences would flick channels in no time. It's uncomfortable (c'mon, it's radiation poisoning we're dealing with here...it's frightening stuff we'd all rather not think about), and in a nutshell, it's depressing. But Meryl Streep is just so likable as Karen Silkwood. You can't help but cheer for her and her courage in the face of an big corporation that practically OWNED the entire county. And Kurt Russell gives an understated and very effective performance as the redneck with a good heart. He's great in one scene (spoiler) after Karen (and an older lady employee named Thelma) have been "contaminated" and Karen asks him if its changed how he feels about her. I was expecting some cheesy romantic line here, but instead he goes, "Well, I still want to f*ck you...I sure as h*ll don't wanna f*ck Thelma anymore though!"

Another standout for me was the very end (another spoiler) the accappella "Amazing Grace" rendition. No sound, no dialogue, just a final shot of Karen Silkwood and a fade out as the song ends. It's a great ending in cinema I think. Understated, quiet and powerful, just like the film itself.

Pretty great

[Red_Identity · 12 March 2013]

I think the advertising for this is very, very misleading. The poster on wikipedia makes it seem like a thriller, a crime story, and the summary here on IMDb isn't much better. It's just not that up-front about the things happening. I don't know if everything shown in the film is exactly like it happened in real life, but it's definitely a very realistic story about a woman trying to get answers and then finding her demise, except we don't know for sure if her car accident really was just that, an accident, or the work of other people trying to get rid of a woman looking for the truth in dangerous places. Regardless, Streep is marvelous here, deeply embodying that Oklahoma accent with perfection and playing a character that we've never seen her play before.