Silkwood

2.5/4

Starring: Meryl Streep, Kurt Russell, Cher, Craig T. Nelson, Diana Scarwid, Ron Silver

Rated R (probably for Language, Sexuality, Drug Use and Some Disturbing Images)

"Silkwood" demands patience from the viewer.  This is ironic since the film's subject is a whistleblower who died under mysterious and suspicious circumstances.  Then again, this isn't a conventional movie of any sort.

Karen Silkwood (Streep) works for the Kerr-McGee plant making nuclear rods.  The company is behind on their orders.  Everyone is working double shifts.  Corners are being cut.  Like everyone else, Karen is naive to just how dangerous the plant is until she sees something she wasn't supposed to witness.  Then her suspicions are aroused.  But the deeper she digs, the more enemies she makes.

Anyone expecting something sensational or exciting from "Silkwood" is going to be bored out of their minds.  It's not that kind of a movie.  Truth be told, there isn't much of a story.  What director Mike Nichols does with this material is to create a picture of a lifestyle.  He's more interested in the day to day life of a modern American factory worker.  He looks at the good, the bad, and the ugly.  He paints a picture where workers work long hours, trade shifts as much as jokes, smoke as many cigarettes as possible, and where a person might have to have two roommates to afford a house.  There is an appeal to watching these people's lives that is voyeuristic.

The film wouldn't be as effective as it is without a cast of excellent performances.  All of the characters, whether they are played by acting legends like Meryl Streep and Kurt Russell to the bit players, feel lived in.  No one feels like they're performing at all.  It's amazing how little patterns of behavior and inconsequential moments can add up and create truly unique personalities while displaying little "flourish."  Streep in particular deserves mention, bringing a woman to life that is immature and not very bright, but does what she believes to be the right thing.  Kurt Russell's acting abilities are generally unrecognized, but he is effective as the everyman.  The supporting cast, which includes a host of character actors and future stars (actors making appearances include Fred Ward, Craig T. Nelson, Diana Scarwid, Charles Hallahan, Josef Summer, Bruce McGill, David Strathairn, M. Emmett Walsh, James Rebhorn, Bill Cobbs, Gary Grubbs, Tess Harper, Anthony Heald, and Will Patton), is excellent.

Without a doubt, the film's strongest scenes occur in the first half.  Director Mike Nichols, Streep and the rest of his cast do fine jobs portraying the life of factory workers.  They create a situation where everyone's actions and motives make sense.  It's when Karen undergoes a transformation into a crusader that the film runs into trouble.  The transition is unconvincing.  Too much happens off screen, too much is unexplained and too much is left up to the audience to intuit.  Nichols is trying to keep the story grounded, which it is.  But creating a setting and telling a story are two different things.  A little less time on the world-building (as it were) and more time on Karen's motives would have helped the film.

There's good stuff here, but I reluctantly have to vote no on "Silkwood."  It just doesn't make the grade.