Movie Queue: Silkwood (1983)

Hi Bloggy Friends,

I had a full circle moment when I finished watching Silkwood, the fifth or sixth movie in my slow going Meryl Streep Movie Marathon. Without realizing it until the end, the final scene is one that I sometimes recall from my childhood. I caught a glimpse of it one night when I crawled into the living room past my bedtime to sneak some grown up TV time with my mom. 

The film, which is based on a true story, gets off to a great start. I screamed out loud when the opening credits revealed that Cher was in it, too. Cher and Meryl in the same movie? There had to be a gay behind this one. Anyway...

Karen Silkwood (Mama Meryl) lives with her boyfriend Drew (Kurt Russell) and her lesbian bestie Dolly (Cher). Everyday they squeeze into their jalopy to commute to Kerr-McGee, the Oklahoma plutonium plant where they are employed. At work she flirts and cuts up with her hick colleagues, goes home at night to puff a reefer and the next morning she playfully bitches about what a slob lesbo Dolly is. The genuine and humorous character interaction is one of my favorite parts of the film.

Things start to go sour, though, when people at the plant begin getting ill from the chemicals they're handling. My mood went from amused to disturbed when tainted employees were ushered down the hall like crazy people to be scrubbed until their skin was red as Christmas. At this point a fire is lit under Karen's ass as she becomes passionately involved with a scheme to expose the company's careless ways. She better watch her back, though, because those skeevy higher-ups don't mess around.

I was really into the film until Karen started sneaking around the plant and flying to Washington D.C. to tell her secrets to big time reporters. Of course, this is pertinent to the plot but this is when it seemed to drag on without getting down to the point. Plus, the character interaction was so enjoyable that it was a buzz kill to see things turn so serious. Meryl can't go wrong, though. Her hillbilly accent is right on point (take a hint Sandra Bullock) and she looks fabulous in her reddish-brown mullet that would today seem oh so hip.

Cher is great too. She was actually nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance. Her accent is believable and, come on, she's just fun to watch. My favorite part is when she takes up with a moody girlfriend played by none other than Diana Scarwid. That's right, homos, that's the same actress who played Christina in Mommie Dearest. I tell you, the gays made this movie.

I recommended this film if you are a homosexual (especially lesbian), liked Norma Rae starring Sally Field or Erin Brockovich starring Julia "teeth" Roberts.

I would not recommend it if you have A.D.D. or if you're wigged out by creepy shower scenes. 

Thanks for stopping by to read my first movie review column. If you've seen something recently, new or old, and want to share your thoughts, feel free to email me a brief review of your own. I'll post it on my blog and share it with the world on Facebook and Twitter. I'd love to hear what you have to say.

Have a great night.

Love, Josh