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Meryl Streep, Kurt Russell, Cher, Craig T. Nelson, Diana Scarwid ... see more see more... , Fred Ward , Ron Silver , Charles Hallahan , Josef Sommer , Sudie Bond , E. Katherine Kerr , Bruce McGill , David Strathairn , J.C. Quinn , Kent Broadhurst , Richard Hamilton , Les Lannom , James Rebhorn , Ray Baker , Jim Beaver , Michael Bond , Bill Cobbs , Norm Colvin , Henderson Forsythe , Gary Grubbs , Betty Harper , Tess Harper , Anthony Heald , Graham Jarvis , Betty King , John Martin , Will Patton , Vern Porter , M. Emmet Walsh , Tom Stovall , Christopher Saylors

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 negli... read more read more...gence 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

Flixster Users

78% liked it

9,117 ratings

Critics

70% liked it

23 critics

R, 2 hr. 11 min.

Directed by: Mike Nichols

Release Date: December 14, 1983

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DVD Release Date: March 13, 2001

Stats: 418 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (418)

  • jennifxu
    April 30, 2011
    jennifxu
    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.
  • imrealgod
    September 14, 2010
    imrealgod
    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... read more." 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.
  • deano
    April 29, 2007
    deano
    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.
  • Dannyrovira
    December 16, 2011
    Dannyrovira
    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 ... read moreher 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.
  • fb20312798
    November 10, 2007
    fb20312798
    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. T... read morehe 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.
  • SunilJawahir
    March 29, 2009
    SunilJawahir
    I like all of the actors in this but certain parts were a bit overdone.
  • jimbotender
    September 16, 2008
    jimbotender
    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 ... read morefilms 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.
  • ileo
    December 20, 2007
    ileo
    Great!
  • jrmcm
    February 11, 2009
    jrmcm
    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 attentio... read moren. The media stuff is a drag.
  • MetalMario2
    October 6, 2008
    MetalMario2
    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.

View All Silkwood Reviews

Critic Reviews

Richard Schickel
July 1, 2011
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 mo... Full Review

Roger Ebert
October 23, 2004
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 ri... Full Review

Vincent Canby
May 20, 2003
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. Full Review

Dave Kehr
January 1, 2000
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 ... Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
January 9, 2009
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Seemingly better suited for a documentary. Full Review

Cole Smithey
February 15, 2008
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com

Gripping.

Emanuel Levy
December 13, 2007
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

One of Nichols' best films, Silkwood is effective as factual reportage and portrait of working class life (rare sight in Hollywood cinema), with terrific performances by Meryl Streep, as a new type of... Full Review

Nick Davis
August 9, 2006
Nick Davis, Nick's Flick Picks

Silkwood achieves impressive credentials as a drama of human character, not just as a screed against intolerable public practice. Full Review

February 9, 2006
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. Full Review

Rich Cline
June 12, 2004
Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall

Extremely well-acted, powerful story.

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