Silkwood is a 1983 American biographical drama film directed by Mike Nichols and starring Meryl Streep, Cher, and Kurt Russell, with a screenplay by Nora Ephron and Alice Arlen.
The film centers on the life of Karen Silkwood, the nuclear whistleblower and labor union activist and her struggle while investigating alleged wrongdoing at the Kerr-McGee plutonium plant in Oklahoma, where she worked alongside her friend Dolly Pelliker (Cher) and her boyfriend Drew Stephens (Russell).
At the 56th Academy Awards, Silkwood received five nominations in total, including Best Actress (Streep), Supporting Actress (Cher), Director (Nichols), Original Screenplay (Ephron and Arlen), and Editing (Sam O'Steen). The film also received five Golden Globe nominations, with Cher winning for her performance.
This film features examples of:
- The '70s: The film takes place in the early part of the decade, leading up to Karen Silkwood's death in 1974.
- Based on a True Story: Of whistleblower Karen Gay Silkwood
. - Butch Lesbian: Dolly is a lesbian who has the Patti Smith look going.
- Downer Ending: Karen dies in a car crash which was probably intentional and never manages to expose whatever was going on. Though the footnotes reveal that the plant was shut down a year later, which at least elevates it to Bittersweet Ending.
- Foreshadowing: When driving home late one night, Karen hits a deer and runs off the road, almost precisely the fate that befalls her at the end of the movie.
- Gory Discretion Shot: We don't see or hear Karen's fatal accident, just the headlights of the pursuing car closing in on her. Though this trope is then averted with the gruesome scene of her slumped over the wheel of her wrecked car.
- Half-Empty Two-Shot: In the last shot, all we see in the left half of the frame are.... headlights.
- He Knows Too Much: Karen was on her way to meet with a reporter, carrying multiple incriminating documents, when she died in a mysterious car crash. When her body is discovered after the crash, the documents are mysteriously absent.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: Karen's death. Although she was technically intoxicated (the amount of sedative in her blood was nearly twice what she needed for sleep), the documents she'd been carrying were missing and the back of the car was marked by both damage and paint chips that weren't there before, indicating that she was hit from behind and forced off the road.
- Line-of-Sight Name: The film includes a telling of the "One-Man-Pouring-A-Bucket-Of-Water-Over-Two-Dogs" joke.
- Right Through the Wall: Discussed by Drew and Dolly after Dolly brings her lover Angela home:Drew: Make enough noise there, Dolly?
Dolly: You two ain't exactly a silent movie yourselves. - Sexy Coat Flashing: Done by Karen to Drew, although oddly enough, she's fully dressed.
- Sorry, I'm Gay: A male construction worker attempts to hit on Dolly, leading to this exchange.Dolly: (pause) ...I am really not interested. Come on, move.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: The sound of Karen singing "Amazing Grace" plays over the last few minutes of the film, which depict the final moments of Karen's life.
- Spoiler Cover: The film poster depicts a still of Karen looking worriedly at her rearview mirror; at the time the film came out, her death wasn't even ten years old yet, so it was considered sufficiently fresh in public memory.