Reviews (19)

A Fine Whistle Blower Movie!
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.

An average flick about a fascinating subject.
I found the film entertaining only because I find the topic absolutely compelling. Streep, Russell and Cher turn in very average performances, but in all fairness they were portraying very average people. The big mystery is not who killed Karen Silkwood but how did Meryl Streep get an Oscar nomination for this? Musta been a slow year the the movies. I found it ironic that the lead character in the film was so concerned about the carcinogenic dangers of plutonium while she chain smoked through the entirety of the film. As I have said, the story is compelling. The movie doesn't parallel the events very closely as they really took place, and when it does follow fact it barely scrapes the surface. I have just finished the *excellent* book "The Killing Of Karen Silkwood" by Richard Rashke and I heartily recommend it to any Silkwood buff who is interested in the whole story. It'll scare the daylights out of you.

thought provoking
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".

Radioactive Thriller!
Meyrl Streep's performance as Karen Silkwood was excellent. She is just a worker at a neucular power plant who is exposed to plutonium and goes to the press to report unsafe working conditions. Cher and Kurt Russell play Silkwood's room-mate and boyfriend who also work at the plant and are exposed to the radiation and plutonium leak. They are told that they will develop cancer and other life-long heath problems. I couldn't imagine working in a neucular power plant. The extreme dangers on top of the risk of being contaminated would be too scary! Plus, if you were contaminated they sprayed you down with scalding hot water and vigerously scrubbed you until your skin was beet red! All against your own will! You were forced. Nope, I couldn't imagine it.

NEVER work in a plutonium plant!
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... ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A Fiercely Moving Film Of And By Not Just Pretty Women
I literally just finished viewing Erin Brockovich on DVD at my computer. No kids, no distracted noises, just a 19" monitor, a bowl of cheesy fish, and my full attention. And I must say, I am impressed, moved, and smiling.

Erin Brockovich is one of those lone justice crowd pleasers, like ''Norma Rae'' or ''Silkwood,'' in which a workaday woman dares to fight the system because she's too stubborn, or foolhardy, to know that she's not supposed to. Julia Roberts' feisty, take no prisoners Erin coerces her way into an entry level job at a scruffy Los Angeles law office, where the attorney in charge is a middle aged ulcer candidate named Ed Masry, played subtlely charming by (Albert Finney).

Assigned to do some paperwork on what looks like a trivial pro bono case, Erin stumbles upon a hidden epidemic. Dozens of residents in nearby Hinkley have fallen victim to multiple tumors, degenerative organs, and other freak afflictions, yet no one has surmised that the wave of catastrophic illness might have something to do with Pacific Gas & Electric, the industrial plant on the edge of town. With little to go on but her gut, Erin learns that PG&E has employed a deadly form of chromium as an antirust agent, thereby contaminating the local water supply.

Why does Erin alone see through the company's lies? Mostly because of how torn up she is over the victims. She's wounded by their plight, especially that of the tremulous, naive Mrs. Jensen (played with touching vulnerability by Marg Helgenberger). The result is that her investigation never feels overtly noble or righteous; it's a matter of sheer empathetic will.

''Erin Brockovich'' is based on a true story. The movie is consistently engrossing. Its surprise -- and its pleasure -- is the plainspoken humanity of its outrage, its utter absence of demagoguery and hype. The arc of the tale may be conventional, but Roberts, in her most forceful dramatic performance, allows us to take in every moment through fresh, impassioned eyes.

Erin Brockovich herself, (a waitress in the diner scene) who speaks as passionately and powerfully in the DVD extra as Roberts performed on screen, is to be heroically lauded against villainous corporations and an apathetic legal system. She also answered a question I had about the real story, "This was not about the money. This was about them. They as a people came together, united, and fought for themselves, their children and their children's children."

A fiercely moving, sometimes laugh out loud funny scenes story that is victorious in fore fronting decency and right from wrong while gently pushing us all to believe we CAN make a difference. ... Read more

Reviews (26)

TOP DRAWER WEREWOLF MOVIE...
This is a thinking person's werewolf movie. Well directed by Mike Nichols, it features a stellar cast who give excellent performances. Jack Nicholson, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Plummer, James Spader, Kate Nelligan, and David Hyde Pierce all contribute to the successful execution of this sophisticated and subtle horror film. As an added bonus, those of you who are devotees of the TV series, "Friends", should look for David Schwimmer's cameo appearance in the film.

Jack Nicholson plays a middle aged, married, senior book editor for a publishing company. Driving home at night from a business trip in New England, he hits an animal on the road. When he gets out of his car to check on the condition of the animal, he discovers it to be a wolf. What happens next will change the course of his life forever.

When Jack gets back to his office, he is feeling the after effects of his interaction with the wolf. He is also concerned about his job, as his publishing house has been taken over by Christopher Plummer. Jack initially plays his character as a somewhat laid back, nice guy, a good man who doesn't see the knife being plunged into his back by his young, ambition driven underling, played with obsequious perfection by James Spader, until it is too late. Publishing is, indeed, a dog eat dog world.

Betrayed by his underling who has been given his job, Jack finds himself undergoing a subtle, physical metamorphosis. He no longer needs reading glasses, his hearing is extremely acute, and he has a keen, very keen, sense of smell. It is these enhanced senses that lead him to discover that his wife, well played by Kate Nelligan, has shockingly betrayed his love and devotion, causing him to leave her. It is a betrayal that is to have dire consequences for her.

Finding himself more robust and aggressive, literally a new man, Jack goes on the attack and, and with the aid of his loyal underling, played to perfection by David Hyde Pierce, gets his job back. He aggressively asserts himself with Spader and lets him know, in no uncertain terms, who is top dog. There is a memorable scene to this effect. In the process of regaining his life, Jack falls in love with the boss's beautiful daughter, played with gritty charm by Michelle Pfeiffer, and she with him.

Still, Jack finds himself battling his inner demons over his change. The transformation of Jack is subtle, and there is very lttle use of special effects to enhance his metamorphosis. Jack is often able to convey to the viewer what he is undergoing with a flick of the eyebrow, a twitch of the nose, a curl of the lips. It is a wonderful piece of acting and a tribute to the power of suggestion.

Certain events transpire that make Jack fear that his transformation will result in injury to Michelle. She eventually buys into his fear, misinterpreting certain events that take place. What he and she ultimately discover is that they both, in fact, have a great deal to fear, but that their initial fear was misplaced. Look to a great finale.

If you are the type of horror film fan who likes excessive gore, as well as many high tech, special effects, this is not the film for you, as there is very little of that in this film. This is a subtle, multi-layered, symbolic type of horror film that will leave the viewer analyzing what they just saw. It is simply a great werewolf film.

A movie with a modest bite
Will Randall (Jack Nicholson) is the senior editor of a big book company and his life isn't as great as he would like it to be. However, things drastically change, and mostly improve, for Will after he is bitten by a mean looking wolf. Will soon finds out that he is changing more and more every day and that he is becoming like a wolf. Before long, he has better vision, hearing, and a spectacular sense of smell, but not everything has improved for Mr. Randall. Since he is now a lot more like a wolf, animals are now afraid of him and he becomes a murderer, just by following his wolf instincts. Will Mr. Randall find out what he's becoming, and is there a way to stop it?

"Wolf" is a pretty good movie. The makeup and the special effects in the movie aren't some of the best, but they get the job done. Jack Nicholson does a good job of acting and so does Michelle Pfeiffer as Will's new love interest. "Wolf" is a moderately exciting movie, it doesn't have as much blood and gore as you would expect it to have. It also doesn't have as much action as I would've liked to have seen, but it was still an entertaining movie and I recommend anybody who likes horror movies to at least watch "Wolf."

Intelligent horror film/character study
This is an interesting film, because it's partly a character study of a tired, middle aged publisher and partly a horror film about werewolves. Jack Nicholson plays a publisher about to lose his job to his friend and protege, who also happens to be sleeping with his wife. He seems too worn out to put up much of a fight, until he is bitten by a dying wolf, and begins to feel as if he has taken on its spirit. He also falls for the incredibly beautiful daughter of his boss (Michelle Pfeiffer). This movie has top notch acting, an intriuging story and a cool ending. I recommend it.

JACK NICHOLSON was made for this role of strange WOLF
This movie can demonstrate that the talents of JACK NICHOLSON are immenses, ernormous ! This is a film which i 've seen many time and i ave not lassitude ! The scenario is structured as much as a jewel ! Sure i like this film !

Wicked good fun!
Imaging the weirdest of all actor getting even weirder. That's what happenes when Jack Nicholson hits a large black animal and is bitten when he attempts to remove it from the road.
I love this movie as it shows the strength and rejuvination which comes with the werewolf's bite. Jack Nicholson is old but has an OK job, he has a cheating wife, and a new nose which smells a drop of tequilla in a cup of coffee on your breath.
He learns more of his internal demon wolf as the moon cycles. He also finds a way of controling his complete change, but when a new woman in his life is in danger from a rival wolf he must decide if he really wants to. ... Read more