Rating: 
Summary: thought provoking
Review: Silkwood was fantastic. Streep's performance of Karen Silkwood accompanied by Russell was supurb. This film was thought provoking whilst tear jerking in its realism of capitalism over-riding human natures passion for a better world.
And how can you forget the films rendition of "Amazing Grace".
Rating:
Summary: A Fine Whistle Blower Movie!
Review: This 1983 film has everything going for it. It is directed by Mike Nichols; written by Nora Ephron and Alice Arlen; and stars Meryl Streep, Kurt Russell and Cher. The movie is based on the true story of Karen Silkwood and brings to mind NORMA RAE, ERIN BROKOVICH and THE INSIDER, as it is about efforts to unionize a plant (Sally Field in NORMA RAE) and whistle blowers' activities where the public's health is at risk.Meryl Streep with her shag haircut and mini-skirts is perfect as the worker who becomes exposed to lethal doses of radioactive plutonium in a plant in Oklahoma. Apparently there is no role too difficult for her. Cher also gives a great performance and comes into her own as a serious actress here, playing Streep's gay housemate. This movie will scare your socks off, particularly when the alarm goes off in the plant, indicating that radioactive plutonium has been released and that someone has been exposed to this deadly agent. The film makes a powerful statement about corporate greed versus the safety of workers. Very, very scary.
Rating:
Summary: Silkwood is thumbs up, Peter Alerich's review is a downer!
Review: This is less a commentary of Silkwood, which is terrific movie highlighted by superb performances punctuated by Meryl Streep's, and more a request that Peter Alerich, who wrote a review below, never pick up a keyboard again. What surprises me is that he uses the word ironic, and that he reads. Maybe he should see the movie seven more times so he can figure out what acting really is.
Rating:
Summary: NEVER work in a plutonium plant!
Review: This movie blew me away when I saw it the theater when it first came out...Cher is amazing, and you never think, while you watch the movie, that this IS Cher. Kurt Russell and of course, Meryl Streep, are fantastic, very high caliber performances. The setting, the plant and the other workers, all lend an air of depression and danger, the plant is a place no one in their right mind would ever want to work, no matter how high the salary. As Drew (Russell) explains to Karen (Streep) those aren't Post Toasties you're workin' with..." underlining the extreme danger of working with these substances. When they go to see Karen's children, living with their father and his new wife, it is SO depressing I could hardly watch; I cannot imagine living in such a place and under such conditions...I once went to a place in California called the City of Industry, and it reminded me of that. A real nightmare of industry, right in your front, back and side yards. The workers try hard to have an air of normality, but really, under such hazardous conditions, it is not possible. The gradual, increasing deliberate contamination of Silkwood is so vile, so insidious and so tragic, it is horrifying...better to shoot someone to death, than that prolonged agony and horror she must have endured before they finally succeeded in killing her. Streep's singing, a capella, of "Amazing Grace" over the end credits is heartbreaking, and she does a great job with it...it is an evocative song to begin with; under these circumstances it is dreadfully sad to hear. It is a true nightmare journey into a world where people earn a living exposing themselves to contamination every day, and those who work in nuclear plants, I take my hat off to you...you are truly brave souls. Excellent story, partly because it is true and partly due to the excellent acting, and a real emotional experience and window into another world...
Rating: 
Summary: Good actors
Review: wasted on a long movie. A waste of excellent talent.
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