Silkwood Reviews

Silkwood felt kind of preachy and also hippie at the same time, but Meryl Streep is a pretty magnetic actress, and she pulls us through.

All I knew about it was its tagline (besides its IMDb Rating) before going for it.

Tagline: On November 13, 1974, Karen Silkwood, an employee of a nuclear facility, left to meet with a reporter from the New York Times. She never got there.

I misinterpreted "She never got there." as "She went missing." What I thought would be the beginning of the movie was the end of the movie!!! And it was quite a job to sit all through to the end. The wikipedia page on Karen Silkwood was rather more interesting (especially the last para under 'Estate of Karen Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee' section. Talk about conspiracy theories!!!) than the movie (something that I also felt about 'The Elephant Man', but 'The Elephant Man' was still better than this... way better). No, I wasn't looking for big time action with blasts & explosions (mind you that 'North Country', one of my favorites, didn't have much action either) that I ended up being disappointed. But I wasn't looking for such a slow & dull story-telling either.

The performances by almost everyone, specifically Meryl Streep & Kurt Russell, were great but not enough to save me from the ample amount of boredom that the movie tends to generate.

A leisurely and generally low-toned movie about a factory worker in a nuclear 'parts' firm who becomes contaminated and drifts leftwards into Union affairs. Meryl Streep offers a determined, not very sympathetic portrait of a working-class lass with a not very delicate air.

A superior adult drama based on a true story of the Karen Silkwood case which is brilliantly directed by Mike Nichols. Silkwood, played by the amazing Meryl Streep in a riveting Oscar nominated performance is a frustrated factory worker in an Oklahoma plutonium plant. we follow her growing awareness of the dangers of exposure to herself and other plant workers, her developing union activism and intense struggle to improve conditions for everyone, and because of inadequate safety measures she and several employee become contaminated with radiation. Her death in car accident on her way to a meeting with a Times reporter and a briefcase full of evidence left many unanswered questions. Nichols painstakingly gets absolutely superlative performances from his large cast especially from Kurt Russell and Cher in an Oscar nominated performance. An impressive and moving motion picture. Highly Recommended.

A very well acted film. The perfomances are great across the board. The film explores the true story of a woman who tried to take on a major corporation in the 1970s and may have been killed as a result. The film is an interesting character study, but there in lies the problem. The film has trouble figuring out exactly what it is. This isn't a huge issue, I love that they took time to establish character. Cher gives a great supporting performance, but a lot of her subpolt seems uneccesary to the central narative. Still the film is well made and the performances alone make it worth your while.

I like all of the actors in this but certain parts were a bit overdone.

Politically incorrect Nichols directs a very controversial story,Karen Silkwood's unabashed fight against the manipulative nuclear plant.Pretty engaging considering the irrational behavior of corporations at the period,leading to her imminent murder.There was a time when Nichols films didn't suffer much from a cliched script (Charlie Wilson's War) nor from a pseudo-intellectuality (Closer).Streep and Cher keep the rhythm and despite the flaws,it remains a truthful drama.

Great!

It's an interesting story. It makes you think about nuclear power and the people working in those plants. It kind of just plods along as far as the movie goes. It's not really extraordinary. It's sad to know that people who have worked in those types of plants can come in contact which such harmful chemicals. It's a cautionary tale and if you have any interest in nuclear power or if you just want to have a different perspective the next time you watch an episode of The Simpsons give this a watch, it'll make you think and it might also make you angry.

Nichols creates some raw tension and darkly atmospheric suspense (if you don't all ready know the story), but it's Streep's entirely believable lead performance that serves as a catalyst for the material as well as her co-stars, and ultimately makes the picture worth the attention. The media stuff is a drag.

I found it difficult to take Karen Silkwood's fears of radiation-induced cancer seriously, as she spent nearly every scene with a cigarette between her lips.

One well done movie especially her portrait of Karen and her life and her tragic ending due to place of work. Her blowing the whistle on what they were exposed to and how it made people sick and she died in a car accident. A must see don't miss it good movie

Cher is a lesbian (in love with Meryl Streep no less) in this high power story of Karen Silkwood. A classic by all standards...

Meryl Streep and Kurt Russell owned this movie and there characters.....the movie had everything funny, very dramatic and thrilling...this was based on actualy events which made it evern more interesting.

Now that I've seen it, I still don't know what to think of it. It was good, don't get me wrong, but I think I may have watched too many movies like this to really enjoy it. I think it was a great role for Streep; I especially liked her tough broad attitude, but I really loved the simple way the movie came to a close with her singing Amazing Grace. How very simple, yet dramatic.

My favorite Meryl Streep movie, and Cher wasn't too bad either. It kept me in suspense the whole time.

Was a very well acted film and very thought provoking. Had it's very lull moments but over all was a good film.

Amazing. The entire cast gives outstanding performances. Cher deserves more credit for acting; she is phenomenal. Of course, Meryl Streep is as well. I cried so much at the end of this film. Love this movie so much.

Another one that makes you think about the corporate world and how terrible it is. Good cast, well acted. Not a fan of the ending.

A great performance by Meryl Streep as Karen Silkwood. Based on the true story, this film shows us one woman's courage to fight the system within the work place, though it costs her her friends, her boyfriend. Cher, Kurt Russell, Craig T. Nelson, Ron Silver, and Diana Scarwid star in this great 1983 film.