Silkwood (1983)
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70% of critics liked it
(23 reviews) -
78% of users liked it
(9,367 ratings)
Based on a true story, Silkwood begins and ends with Karen Silkwood (Meryl Streep) driving along a lonely road in 1974, heading to a meeting with a New York Times reporter to deliver evidence of negligence at the Kerr-McGee Plant in Cimarron, Oklahoma. The balance of the film flashes back to… More Based on a true story, Silkwood begins and ends with Karen Silkwood (Meryl Streep) driving along a lonely road in 1974, heading to a meeting with a New York Times reporter to deliver evidence of negligence at the Kerr-McGee Plant in Cimarron, Oklahoma. The balance of the film flashes back to Karen's ribald private life with her lover (Kurt Russell) and her loose-living friends (Cher and Diana Scarwid). This is in contrast to her humdrum job at Kerr-McGee--or it least it was humdrum until Karen and several other employees become contaminated by radiation. The higher-ups want to sweep this incident under the rug, but Karen thinks that something's fishy, and informs the union of that fact. X-rays of the faulty fuel rods and written proof of the inadequate safety measures that caused Karen's illness are tampered with, forcing Karen to conduct her own private investigation. As she gathers evidence, Karen becomes a pariah to her boyfriend because of her obsession. She finally organizes the evidence into a briefcase, and heads off to her meeting with the Times reporter. She never makes it; the "official" report on her fatal auto accident is that Ms. Silkwood had been drinking and was under the influence of tranquilizers. Kerr-McGee was eventually forced to pay the Silkwood family an enormous settlement because of her contamination, but the full facts behind her convenient accident have never been revealed (though the filmmakers clearly indictate whom they hold responsible). Director Mike Nichols and screenwriters Nora Ephron and Alice Arlen surround this true story with a lively, improvisational atmosphere that gets the best out of Streep, Russell, and Cher, while providing perhaps the fullest on-screen realization of Nichols' theater-based techniques of realistic, character-centered, dialogue-driven filmmaking, as well as one of the first movie screenplays from future director Ephron. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- Mike Nichols
- Genres
- Mystery & Suspense, Drama
R,
- In Theaters
- Dec 14, 1983 Wide
- Studio
- 20th Century Fox
Critic Reviews
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Richard Schickel, TIME Magazine
The facts it can lay its hands on do not support a politically alarming or dramatically compelling conclusion to the mysteries of this case. Nor do they lead to a very uplifting statement about the motives and character of its central figure.
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, Time Out
Silkwood's 'ordinariness' protects her from being labelled a wild-eyed Trot, but that should not be allowed to obscure her courage or the whitewash ladled onto her story after her death.
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Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Silkwood is the story of an ordinary woman, hard-working and passionate, funny and screwed-up, who made those people mad simply because she told the truth as she saw it and did what she thought was right.
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Vincent Canby, New York Times
For most of its running time it is so convincing -- and so sure of itself -- that it seems a particular waste when it goes dangerously wrong.
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Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
Hiding once again behind her accent, hairdo, and mannerisms, [Streep] fails to establish any emotional contact with the audience, a serious problem in a film that depends on audience sympathy for its impact.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Meryl Streep
as Karen Silkwood
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Kurt Russell
as Drew Stephens
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Cher
as Dolly Pelliker
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Craig T. Nelson
as Winston
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Diana Scarwid
as Angela
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Fred Ward
as Morgan
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Ron Silver
as Paul Stone
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Charles Hallahan
as Earl Lapin
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Josef Sommer
as Max Richter
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Sudie Bond
as Thelma Rice
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E. Katherine Kerr
as Gilda Schultz
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Bruce McGill
as Mace Hurley
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David Strathairn
as Wesley
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J.C. Quinn
as Curtis Schultz
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Kent Broadhurst
as Carl
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Richard Hamilton
as Georgie
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Les Lannom
as Jimmy
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James Rebhorn
as Los Alamos Doctor
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Ray Baker
as Pete Dawson
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Jim Beaver
as Plant Manager
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Michael Bond
as 2nd Los Alamos Doctor
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Bill Cobbs
as Man in Lunchroom
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Norm Colvin
as Zachary
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Henderson Forsythe
as Quincy Bissell
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Gary Grubbs
as Randy Fox
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Betty Harper
as May Bissell
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Tess Harper
as Linda Dawson
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Anthony Heald
as 2nd Union Meeting Doctor
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Graham Jarvis
as Union Meeting Doctor
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Betty King
as Nurse
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John Martin
as Man with Flashlight
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Will Patton
as Joe
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Vern Porter
as Bill Charlton
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M. Emmet Walsh
as Walt Yarborough
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Tom Stovall
as Los Alamos Doctor
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Christopher Saylors
as Buddy
