Some Like It Hot

SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

In Some Like It Hot (1959), director and co-writer Billy Wilder tells us in the title that his comedy will be a sexy film, possibly even a rebellious one in the face of prudish standards. The movie also comments on the roles males and females play in society and uses the theme that appearances can be deceiving. It probably shares the prize for the best film of a man in drag with Tootsie, and as of now, it is still rated the best comedy ever by the American Film Institute.

The opening has tough looking guys in a hearse with a coffin covered by flowers who are chased by cops. The hoodlums have guns hidden in the roof above the casket. The gangsters’ gunfire causes the police car to crash (a highly effective action scene in the absence of present-day special effects). Liquid flows out of bullet holes in the casket. The occupants open it up and there are many bottles of booze inside, some of which have been hit by bullets. The movie immediately shows that what appears to be upstanding is a fake facade.

A note says it is Chicago, 1929, during the Prohibition era. The thugs deliver the coffin to Mozarella’s Funeral Parlor, whose name reminds one of the Italian dairy product. Fittingly, the Big Cheese, Spats Colombo (George Raft), a gangster boss, is there, hat in hand, pretending to mourn the nonexistent deceased. Detective Mulligan (Pat O’Brien) is outside with a snitch, whose comical nickname is Toothpick Charlie (George E. Stone) because he always has one of the food dislodging objects in his mouth. Charlie tells Mulligan the password so the cop can pretend to be an authorized guest that will allow him to enter the speakeasy party that is hidden inside the funeral parlor (deceptive appearances on both sides of the law here). Spats shows up and a drunk fellow spills his spiked coffee onto the gangster’s fancy footwear (from which his nickname derives). The shoes are supposed to add a refined look to the seedy criminal. You don’t dare upset Spats, as his henchmen drag the clumsy drunk outside. 

Girls in skimpy costumes dance (objectification here, but hey, it still goes on since the Rockettes still perform at Rockefeller Center) in front of the band which includes two of the main characters, Joe (Tony Curtis) playing saxophone, and Jerry (Jack Lemmon) plucking his bass fiddle. During a pause, they discuss how much in debt they are. Practical Jerry wants to use some of their paychecks to reimburse all their lenders. But risky Joe has a tip on a dog race and wants to gamble all their money, hoping for a big payoff. Joe says they have a longstanding gig there, so they can afford the bet. Jerry says suppose it gets cut short. Joe says that Jerry is always negative, and someone can suppose many things that will not happen, like the stock market crashing and the Dodgers leaving Brooklyn (of course these things do actually happen which undermines Joe’s judgment). Jerry’s concern about the job ending turns into a reality when he sees Mulligan put on his badge. Joe and Jerry calmly stow away their instruments and escape as the police raid the joint. Mulligan confronts Spats, who is safely drinking buttermilk and denies being the real owner of the building, Mozarella only being a front man (another bit of fakery). 

Joe and Jerry can’t even pay their rent now, but Joe still bets their overcoats on the dog race. Of course, his “sure thing” turns out to be totally unsure, and they shiver as they walk through freezing Chicago, getting turned down for gigs. The incurable gambler, Joe, wants them to pawn their sax and bass for another bet. Jerry is funny as he sums up Joe’s recklessness when he tells him, “we’re up a creek and you want to hock the paddle.” (There are a ton of funny lines in the script). At one of the music booking offices, Nellie (Barbara Drew) complains that Joe stood her up after she bought a brand new “negligee.” Nellie’s use of that word was daring at the time the film was made, since it suggests that extramarital sex was supposed to take place. Joe comes up with a lame excuse about taking care of Jerry’s bad tooth and says he’ll “make it up to her.” She smartly says, “You’re making it up pretty good so far,” which adds to the theme of presenting a false front. The scene also demonstrates the uncaring way Joe uses women.

Nellie plays a joke on them, getting their hopes up, by saying her boss is looking for bass and sax players for a three-week job with all expenses paid in sunny Florida. What she doesn’t let on is that the job is for an all girls’ band. Joe is angry at Nellie, but Jerry thinks they can fake it by dressing like women. Joe dismisses the idea outright and instead takes a job playing at a St. Valentine’s Day dance. It is fitting that the incident that sets the rest of the plot in motion revolves around that day since the movie deals with love and lust. Reason goes out the window when romance enters since Joe is able to use his good looks and seductive ways to get the already disrespected Nellie to lend the two musicians her car to drive out of town to the gig. 

They go to the garage where the car is parked. Men appear to be playing a friendly game of cards, but it is another inaccurate scene. Toothpick Charlie and other hoodlums are the men there and they pull out guns and aim them at Joe and Jerry when they approach. Once satisfied they are only musicians, the garage owner takes Joe and Jerry to Nellie’s car. Then a car speeds into the garage and men with machine guns order the card players up against the wall. Spats then exits the car as Joe and Jerry hide. What follows mimics the infamous St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. The men are shot because Spats assumed correctly that Toothpick Charlie betrayed him, and the others are eliminated so there will be no witnesses. The day is supposed to encourage the union of lovers and the procreation that eventually follows romance. Instead, the mobsters turn it into a life-depriving slaughter. The hoods discover Joe and Jerry, but Toothpick isn’t dead yet and reaches for a telephone, knocking it over. As Spats and his men are diverted, Joe and Jerry escape and duck into a cigar store (Why cigars? Wilder uses phallic symbols often in this movie). Given their desperate situation, Joe makes a phone call and imitates a woman’s voice, saying they can play in the girls’ band.

Phony appearances become the center of the story as Joe becomes Josephine and Jerry turns into Daphne as the musicians pretend to be women. At the train station Jerry has trouble walking in high heels, and wonders how women walk in those types of shoes (which reminds us of Spats’s footwear, which, although flat, still contain a hint of femininity in their decorative appearance, adding to the gender blending of the film). The high heels illustrate how females feel required to accentuate the physical appearance of their legs and rear at the expense of safety and comfort. Sugar Kane Kowalczyk (Marilyn Monroe) appears now, her renowned beauty and shapeliness on full display, contrasting markedly with the attempted recreation of the female form attempted by the men. As she walks by the side of the train, steam shoots out at her, as if this mechanical phallic symbol (remember the end of North by Northwest?) is getting excited by her passing by, showing that some, indeed, like it hot. Jerry describes her bouncy gait with the memorable line that she looks like “Jell-O on springs.” Jerry rants that it’s impossible for them to imitate Sugar’s movements. Joe says Jerry shouldn’t worry because nobody is asking him “to have a baby,” a foreshadowing comment. 

They meet the band’s leader, Sweet Sue (Joan Shawlee) and her assistant, Beinstock (Dave Barry). Joe, when asked about their musical background, says they studied at a conservatory. Sue says the other women will have to make sure “to watch their language,” a reversal of what usually is required of men to hide their libido in the presence of women. It also shows women, too, can be sexual in their speech, as is shown when one of the band members starts to tell a dirty story. As Joe and Jerry pass through the car carrying the women, one says to Jerry to take off her “corset” and relax a little. The remark shows how women have to artificially alter their bodies by constraining themselves to put on sexually appealing appearances. Here is a safe space where they don’t have to conform to males-prescribed standards. 

Joe and Jerry come upon Sugar secretly drinking, and then hiding her flask in her stocking, which, again, creates a deceptive action. She says all the women drink, but she has been the one who gets caught. If her drinking is discovered again, she’ll be thrown out of the band. She says she always gets the “fuzzy end of the lollipop,” another phallic reference, but also points to the fact that she has been relegated to the lower end of the social class structure. At this time men can drink openly because it is a macho badge they wear, but women pretend not to enjoy alcohol because it is not seen as being ladylike. “Sugar” refers to something sweet to taste, and eating is linked to satisfying sexual appetites, as Jerry says he used to dream about being alone in a pastry shop, tasting everything. He connects that image to lust when he says he would like some of that “Sugar.” But Joe reminds him that to ensure their safety, they must abstain from indulging their sexual appetites because they are “on a diet.”

While rehearsing, Sue wants “Josephine” and “Daphne” to “heat” up their playing, another reference to passion. Sugar plays the ukulele (a shapely instrument to suggest her curves) and sings while shaking her body, causing Jerry to not even realize which side is the front of the bass. While pressing the strings on the neck of the instrument he possibly suggests it is like stroking the male member. The bass combines the curves of a woman with the neck that is phallic, and echoes the fact that Jerry joins both genders in his character. Unfortunately, the whiskey flask falls out of Sugar’s stocking. Jerry saves Sugar from expulsion by claiming that the bourbon belongs to “Daphne” (another deception). Sue says, next to alcohol, she doesn’t want her girls associating with men. Joe and Jerry say they would never get involved with men, which is actually true, since that would mean they would have to be gay. Jerry’s stated disgust with men as he assumes the role of a woman here becomes ironic later in the movie. 

There is a sexy scene as the women get ready for sleep and Wilder shows a good amount of skin considering the era, including Monroe’s ample cleavage. Jerry is salivating while Joe tries to cool off his partner’s hot libido. Jerry keeps repeating that he is “a girl,” for this trip, but his body seems to be rejecting his trying to be something he is not. He repeats the phrase as there is a contrasting shot of the masculine symbol of the train plunging ahead. Sugar visits Jerry’s bunk to voice her appreciation for pretending the flask belonged to “Daphne.” She hops into bed with him so Sue, who is walking through the car, will not see her up late. Of course the closeness to Sugar thrills Jerry. He gets some booze out of the sleeping Joe’s berth and says this might be a “surprise party,” which implies when Sugar has drunk enough he might reveal that he is really a man. But the other women see that there is alcohol being shared and they want to expand the fun. Jerry’s berth becomes so crowded it appears Wilder is trying to recreate the Marx Brothers’ crowded ship stateroom scene in A Night at the Opera. Jerry delivers a sexually funny line when he warns that they should watch what they are doing with the “corkscrew.” One of the women brings a salami. Need I say more? Also, the cramped quarters here echo other confining scenes, such as the elevator, the train, and Joe later as Junior sitting in a cramped chair on the beach. It suggests that society dictates strictly defined behaviors for males and females and upper- and lower-class people, and there is a desire to break those imposed molds.

The women wake up Joe who finds he can’t control the situation. Sugar gets a block of ice and goes to the bathroom to chip it up for the drinks as she talks to “Josephine” about how she used to play in male bands. She joined Sue’s group because she and the other women are running away from something (that confinement?). In this way they are like Joe and Jerry who are also trying to escape a bad situation. She admits to being attracted to saxophone players because their music arouses her. Sugar says that just when she thinks she has found true love, these men used her to acquire her money for gambling and other women. Of course Joe plays that instrument, which links him with those unsavory characters. Sugar described what Joe has been doing, so she is unknowingly indicting him for his past actions with women. (This scene is similar to the one between “Dorothy” and Jessica Lange’s character in the later Tootsie). Sugar says one morning she wakes up and the guy is gone and leaves her with a used tube of toothpaste with the contents squeezed out (yes, another sexual image here suggesting a man leaving after he has finished his self-gratification). But Sugar is not a feminist because she is going to Florida to land a rich guy who owns a yacht. She admits she would like a nerdy type who wears glasses because he reads the Wall Street Journal. So even though she is pursuing one of the few paths to gain economic security at the time for a woman, she does not seek the typical macho male, represented by the gangsters. Joe, who urged refraining from making any moves on the women, reverses himself when he thinks he has a chance with Sugar, and will use the information she provided later to try and win her over. 

Jerry now is enjoying the company of women and is almost feeling like one of the girls, which shows the beginning of a role reversal that is more than just clothes deep. The women drop ice down his concealing nightgown, and then put their hands down his back because they want to tease “Daphne” with tickling. Not wanting to be discovered, he pulls the emergency cord, and the train comes to a jarring stop. But the women all get back to their berths before being discovered by Sue. In this way, they act as if they have been following the rules set down for them as compliant women. These are all literal and figurative cover-ups. 

They arrive at a swanky hotel near the ocean in Florida where a bunch of rich old men await in rocking chairs to use the only leverage they have, their wealth, to win over young women. Among them is Osgood Fielding III (Joe E. Brown), who is taken with “Daphne,” which adds a gay subtext to this comedy. It also continues Jerry’s transition to immersing himself more deeply into the role of being a woman. Walking up the steps of the building, Jerry loses one of his shoes and Osgood gets down on a knee to place the shoe back on the foot. The shot presents a comic version of Prince Charming placing the glass slipper on Cinderella, which is confirmed by “Daphne” referring to herself as “Cinderella the second,” after Osgood says he is the third with his name. Osgood has been married many times and admits to liking feisty women (more masculine ones?). Multiple witty double entendres ensue, such as Osgood saying he likes “deep sea fishing,” followed by “Daphne” telling him to pull in his “reel,” another male sexual organ reference. The two enter the elevator, and all we see is the sexually throbbing movement of the shaft-like pointer designating the floors, followed by the exiting “Daphne” slapping Osgood for making advances. Jerry says, “What kind of girl do you think I am?” which would fit the typical response of a woman at the time defending her sexual reputation, but “Daphne” is far from a typical female. 

The next scene amplifies how both Jerry and now Joe see how men sexually harass women. The exaggerated macho posturing of the short (suggesting he is also meager sexually) bellhop (Al Breneman) is on display as he makes unwanted advances on “Josephine.” Although Joe sees how repugnant male sexual pressure is, he is planning to be deceptive by playing an additional role to deceive Sugar to satisfy his own male carnal desires. Jerry complains to Joe that he was pinched in the elevator, and Joe says that they are now seeing “how the other half lives.” Jerry says he doesn’t even look attractive, and Joe points out the indiscriminate male sex drive when he says all that is necessary to arouse men is that one is wearing “a skirt.” Males are so taken over by their sex drive that they even chase a man that looks like a woman. Jerry wants to leave now that they are in Florida, but Joe argues they aren’t free from Spats yet, and plays up the current gig’s monetary benefits. Jerry has already figured out that Joe is after Sugar. Joe has stolen Beinstock’s suitcase and puts on nautical clothing to impersonate the owner of a yacht. He even acquired nerdy eyeglasses to fit Sugar’s stated preference. In the course of the movie Joe is rarely himself, which stresses the roles people play in life to hide their true selves under false appearances for personal gain or protection.

On the beach, the girls, which at this point includes “Daphne,” swim and throw a ball around. It is interesting that Jerry as a woman is somewhat offended when Sugar, who is trying to complement “her,” says that “Daphne” doesn’t have large breasts which allows clothes to “hang” on her better. Jerry is experiencing the emphasis on looks that society has placed on physical appearance when it comes to women. When the beach ball rolls past Joe he covertly trips Sugar and then says he hopes she is fine since many people sue him. That way he quickly shows he is rich. He calls himself “Junior,” since he is the heir to the Shell Oil Company, and that is why he likes collecting seashells. He reads the Wall Street Journal, which Sugar also stated was a male must, but he originally has the newspaper upside down which shows his fakery. Joe adopts a Cary Grant accent to stress his playing a charming romantic lead, but it also makes him sound like he is higher up on the socio-economic ladder. Sugar, trying to match Junior’s supposed status, also puts on a false front by saying those with whom she plays are society girls. When Joe discovers her band plays jazz, he announces the film’s title by saying he guesses “Some like it hot,” but he prefers classical music. Which of course he doesn’t, because he also plays jazz, and that music here becomes synonymous with physical passion. Sugar pretends she is on the same footing as the rich person, and acts as if she is rebelling against her upper-class family. Wilder is satirizing how people try to connect romantically by hiding supposed deficiencies instead of just being honest with each other.

Jerry wanders by and recognizes Joe in his new costume, but Joe issues a suggested threat about squealing. However, Jerry wants to tell “Josephine,” who is supposed to be in the bathtub in their room, right away about Sugar’s finding such a wonderful man. He wants Sugar to discover that Junior is a phony as he walks into their room. But that would mean “Josephine” is also a phony, and Jerry doesn’t seem to realize that also exposes him. Joe has outsmarted, and out run, Jerry, and is in the tub in a bubble bath. In telling “Josephine” about how Junior collects shells, Jerry, in a sideways comment, says, “you know, the old shell game.” The line is a humorous way of again stressing deception. After Sugar leaves, the duplicitous Jerry hypocritically lectures Joe on his pretend act. Joe rises from the tub, still wearing the male clothing, and he menacingly drips toward Jerry. The image literally and figuratively illustrates how there is more going on underneath than what appears on the surface. 

The phone rings, and Joe answers in his own voice, then quickly switches to Josephine. He has been so dishonest he loses track as to who he is supposed to be in the moment. It is Osgood calling, who seems to get a thrill out of being dominated by women, as he enjoys recounting being slapped by “Daphne.” Osgood wants “Josephine” to pass on the message that he has sent the crew of his yacht, the New Caledonia, on shore leave so he can have a quiet supper with Daphne. As payback for trying to expose him, Joe tells Jerry that “Daphne” will stay on shore with Osgood while Joe continues his charade as Junior by entertaining Sugar on Osgood’s yacht. 

After the evening show, Joe changes from Daphne into Junior (he’s like a human chameleon). He switches so often he almost forgets to remove his earrings. He hijacks Osgood’s motorboat but makes lame excuses as to why he has trouble using it, and can only drive backwards. He is literally out to sea in this identity. He doesn’t even know anything about the yacht. As if all these ruses weren’t enough, Joe as Junior acts as if he has a mental block about women, saying they don’t excite him since the woman he loved fell into the Grand Canyon as they were about to kiss. (He says that he gave her transfusions because their blood type was “O.” Wilder uses the blood type as a running gag throughout the film whenever something dangerous is mentioned). He says that he and his family tried everything, but nothing worked to cure him. This strategy allows him to kiss Sugar, saying how he feels nothing, which makes Sugar want to prove that she can overcome his lack of passion. He says if he could find a woman who could revive his interest in romance he would marry her immediately. That is plenty of incentive for Sugar, who plants a passionate kiss on Joe while he lies on the couch. Her large breasts are prominently accentuated in the dress she is wearing, and Joe’s left leg rises, comically symbolizing an erection. 

There are then cuts back and forth between the two couples. While Sugar and Joe/Junior are on the yacht, Jerry/Daphne is at a Latin American club dancing the night away with Osgood. Jerry is just going through the motions at first and Osgood complains that his disguised male companion is leading while they tango. Back on the boat, Joe says, after numerous kisses, that it feels “like someone is barbecuing” his toes. Sugar says, “Let’s throw another log on the fire,” an additional line with a sexual innuendo. While dancing, “Daphne” and Osgood switch having a flower in each other’s mouths, and eventually enjoy themselves so much that they continue dancing even after the club closes. Meanwhile, “Junior” says Sugar has overcome his problem as they keep kissing.

In the morning, Joe and Sugar arrive at the dock just as the drunk Osgood goes to his boat still voicing the music of the night. Joe escorts Sugar to the hotel, then climbs back up to his room after she is inside. Jerry is still singing, too, shaking maracas (symbolic of breasts?). He/she tells Joe that he is engaged. After Joe asks who is the lucky girl, Jerry says, “I am.” He has temporarily transformed into Daphne, switching gender roles, and says Osgood asked to marry Daphne. Jerry says he’s getting married for “security,” like other women of the era (including Sugar). He says he will get a financial settlement after the marriage is annulled. Since women aren’t allowed financial and cultural independence, Wilder is commenting on how society turns romance and marriage into a business arrangement for women, who exchange sex for cash, which constitutes a sort of legal version of prostitution. Joe tries to bring Jerry back to the reality of the time when men couldn’t marry men, and, in a reversal of his previously prescribed mantra, tells him to repeat, “I’m a boy,” in order to do a gender reboot. Sugar shows up at the door to talk about her night and in accordance with the film’s theme, Joe performs a literal cover-up by putting on Josephine’s wig, and jumping under the covers of the bed. 

In a bit of plot contrivance, there happens to be a gangster meeting at the same hotel hosted by the mobster boss, Little Napoleon (Nehemiah Persoff), whose name sounds redundant given the French leader’s height. We again have a facade erected since the crooks are supposed to be attending an Italian opera fan convention, a move that again stresses class distinction and legitimacy. Spats is there with his gang, as is Detective Mulligan, who tells Spats that when they find the two witnesses who were present at the St. Valentine’s killings, Spats will be arrested. Joe and Jerry see Spats and his thugs in the lobby, try to escape on the elevator, but the mobsters get in the same car. Even though they appear as Josephine and Daphne, one of the hoods asks if he met them before in Chicago. “Daphne” says, with a double meaning, that they “wouldn’t be caught dead in Chicago.” As the elevator door closes, Spats gives the two pretend women a hard look as if he is trying to see below the disguises to find the truth. 

Joe and Jerry quickly start to pack, planning to escape again. Jerry says they will sell the diamond bracelet Osgood gave him and head to South America. But, he picks up the maracas and remembers what a great night he had and says, as if he is a woman, that he’ll never find another man who is so good to him. When Joe picks up the hat he wore as Junior, he feels he must at least say goodbye to Sugar. Jerry says Joe usually just left women without a word. Joe says that was when he was the saxophone player, like the jerks who left Sugar without caring about her. He says he isn’t that person anymore, and wants to be like the millionaire gentleman he portrayed, which additionally emphasizes social class differences. They both seem to be internally taking on the characteristics of what they appeared to be on the surface. Joe as Junior calls Sugar and still lies by saying he has to go to Venezuela to firm up an oil merger and marry the other company head’s daughter for the sake of the stockholders. He puts the diamond bracelet in the box of orchids that Osgood gave to “Daphne” and slides them over to Sugar's room, saying she should have received his present, which her roommate finds outside the door. Joe is thinking more about Sugar than himself now.

Joe and Jerry try to sneak out by way of the balcony and down the side of the building, but the gangsters see them through their room window. Joe and Jerry had said they were musicians when they were in the garage in Chicago, so Spats suspects they are the witnesses since the disguised men are carrying instruments. Joe and Jerry are able to avoid the mobsters by climbing back up, but the crooks get the bass fiddle and find the bullet holes which confirms Spats’s suspicions. 

Spats and his men rush to the lobby. Joe and Jerry assume more disguises (additional fraudulent appearances) as Joe pretends to be an old man in a wheelchair and Jerry, dressed as a bellboy, pushes the chair. They head through the lobby but Spats sees that Jerry didn’t take off Daphne’s high heels. Jerry is symbolically male and female now in his appearance at the same time to stress the gender blending. 

The two evade the gangsters, hiding under the dinner table where the gangsters are meeting (another example of outward appearance not revealing what is truly happening). Spats is angry at one of his men and starts to pick up a grapefruit to smash into his face (a reference to James Cagney’s performance in Public Enemy). Little Napoleon arrives and he uses large hearing aids (exposed to too much gun noise, or does he not care about hearing what others have to say?) He wants to remember those that were killed on St. Valentine’s Day. Apparently, Little Napoleon was a friend of Toothpick Charlie, and is angry about his death. Little Napoleon has a man with a machine gun inside a huge birthday cake in order to kill Spats (a benign appearance hiding danger underneath). After Spats and his men are shot, the shooter runs off. Joe and Jerry are again witnesses to murders, and run out. Mulligan shows up after hearing the gunshots to arrest Little Napoleon. 

The gangsters, who were able to leave the party before Mulligan arrived, look for Joe and Jerry as the two again disguise themselves as Josephine and Daphne. Joe plans on getting away on Osgood’s yacht and has Jerry, as Daphne, call him. But Joe hears Sugar singing how she’s through with love. He is moved and goes up to the stage and kisses Sugar as Josephine. He tells her that no guy (which includes himself) is worth the pain, so it is appropriate that he kisses her as a woman. 

The thugs see Joe/Josephine kiss Sugar and chase after him, knowing Joe is in disguise. After the kiss, Sugar realizes that Josephine is Junior and is happy to discover he didn’t leave. Joe and Jerry again go literally undercover, hiding beneath the gurney wheeling out Spats’s body. They meet Osgood at his motorboat, and “Daphne” says that “Josephine” will be a bridesmaid. But Sugar chases after them, and despite Joe admitting that he’s one of those selfish saxophone players that hurt her in the past, and says she deserves better, Sugar chooses the new Joe who realizes his own faults. 

The story concludes with a conversation between “Daphne” and Osgood which leads to one of the great last lines in the history of movies. Jerry is trying to convince Osgood that they can’t marry. When he says she smokes, he says he doesn’t care. He says he has a scandalous past because he has been living with a saxophone player (how true), but Osgood says he forgives her. When “Daphne” says she can’t have children, Osgood says they can adopt. Jerry finally takes off the wig and admits to being a man, to which Osgood responds, “Well, nobody’s perfect.” As we have seen in this film, men are nowhere near perfection, but after walking in women’s shoes (and wearing their dresses), there may be reason to hope for improvement.

The next film is Adaptation.

Silkwood

SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

Silkwood is a 1983 film which Mike Nichols directed based on a screenplay by Nora Ephron and Alice Arlen. It is based on a true story but has the same warning that the fictional The China Syndrome contained about the possible dangers of nuclear power. This movie stresses how those in charge can control, invalidate, and maybe even eliminate those far down on the capitalistic food chain. However, the main character here is not some exemplary hero, since her many flaws are on display. The movie suggests that one’s background does not invalidate a person’s exposing an injustice, and the voice of the less powerful should not be silenced.

The opening shot reveals a rural countryside and a car approaching a street sign showing the distance to Crescent and Oklahoma City. (I find it preferable when a director does not put titles to show a location but makes the revelation part of the story). Banjo music plays adding a country-western soundtrack to match the visuals. The old car riding along the road towards the camera points to a lack of affluence here. The three people in the automobile are the principal characters: Karen Silkwood (Meryl Streep, in one of her numerous Oscar nominations, here for Best Actress); Drew Stephens (Kurt Russell); and Dolly Pelliker (Cher, nominated for Best Supporting Actress). They work at a nuclear power plant owned by the Kerr-Magee company. The film (which takes place in 1974) starkly contrasts the average people living in a natural setting with this high tech and potentially dangerous facility that may be a threat to the area in which it stands.

Men in dress suits walk above the local employees on a catwalk, which denotes their superior positions removed from those below. Karen works with others, including Morgan (Fred Ward), who tell stories about the supernatural power of prayer, predictions by psychic Jeane Dixon, and freakish physical accomplishments in a place where science dominates. Karen and the others are mixing plutonium and uranium in a glove box to make radioactive pellets. The plant manager asks Karen to explain the process to a group of trainees. Since she has her back to them, she grins to her fellow workers, which shows us that what they do has become routine for them. The suppressed laughter and the fact that they chew gum suggest that they have a dislike for anything that sounds intellectually pretentious. When one of the trainees asks the manager conducting the tour about the dangers of the radioactive material, he says it’s like being out in the sun, which can be dangerous if one isn’t careful. His comparison is very flawed considering how much more lethal the exposure to these materials can be, and immediately demonstrates the company’s use of deception to downplay the risk of being around radioactive substances. 

After the group moves away, Karen has gum stuck on her face. She calls Wesley (David Strathairn) over and jokingly says she needs the help of a “trained technician” to help her remove it, again showing how they do not take themselves too seriously. At lunchtime, Karen asks for permission to get time off to see her children, so we know she doesn’t have custody, raising questions about her character. She is chastised because she wants to leave without monitoring her radiation level, which she apparently often forgets to do, suggesting carelessness on Karen’s part. 

In the lunchroom, male workers sitting with Drew talk about a rumor that there was a leak in a truck carrying radioactive material, and they say the vehicle was “cooked.” Also, based on past experiences, they say the men on the truck probably were not protected from exposure. One man wonders how they are going to safely get rid of all this toxicity. Drew talks about shooting the stuff into space or to the moon. The question of the problems associated with nuclear energy come up, but the solutions seem extreme or nonexistent. Karen circulates around the room and even flirts with Winston (Craig T. Nelson), a new x-ray technician in the Metallography Department, even though she just told her boyfriend, Drew, that she “hates” his type. She grabs the sandwich of another worker. She approaches foreman Hurley (Bruce McGill) to ask for the weekend off, but she has waited too close to the end of the week to make her request, Along with not checking her exposure, what happens in this scene shows Karen is someone who doesn't like to play by the rules. 

As Karen and her fellow employees gear up for the rest of the day’s work, she asks for someone to cover her weekend shift, but the others are busy. A loud alarm goes off, and it is just another in a series of tests. But, Wesley is suspicious, saying that the company says it’s a test, but someone probably was just “fried.” Gilda Schultz (E. Katherine Kerr) says that they have a number of tests, but don’t go through the “drills.” Without that preparation, she asks, “If this was a real airborne contamination, how we’re supposed to get out of here?” Morgan says cynically that they will not do the drills because it would slow down production. These people are just trying to make a living, but they do have their concerns. It seems they are worried that if they become vocal about the safety issues, they will be labeled troublemakers, and they may lose their jobs. Karen wishes selfishly that if there was a leak, the plant would shut down, and she could visit her kids. Gilda shows her generosity by agreeing to cover for Karen. 

Sometimes a chance occurrence can change the course of a life. According to IMDb, Meryl Streep said that Mike Nichols told her the movie is about people who were metaphorically asleep, but then something happened that caused them to wake up. In the film, Karen has her consciousness raised. This understanding starts at the end of this day, as Karen notices that men with torches are dismantling a truck. A guard comes by and she asks what is going on. The man just tells her to go away. When a person refuses to answer a harmless question, it means someone is trying to hide something. Based on the lunch conversation, the company is covertly destroying the contaminated truck. 

Drew and Karen are in their bedroom the next day. There is a large Confederate flag hung above the bed, so we can guess at the occupants’ political orientation. These are not left-wing environmental radicals that want to bring down corporations. Karen, Dolly and Drew take a trip to see Karen’s children. They cross the border into Texas, where the primary American fuel, oil, is being produced. They raise the windows on the car, and Dolly says the area “Stinks.” Karen says, “That’s home. That’s why I left.” Karen attaches the physical stench to the emotional feeling she has about the state. So far we have encountered dangerous and pollution creating forms of energy. 

Karen again makes the mistake of not following procedures by expecting to take her children to the beach for the weekend without asking the father, Pete Dawson (Ray Baker), who has made other plans for the next two days. He says she can only have their offspring for a few hours. Pete works at an oil field (those two words don’t seem to go together well), so both parents depend on the energy industry for their livelihood. She has two girls and a boy and they ask where their mommy has been, so it appears she has been derelict in her maternal duties. At the restaurant with her three kids she seems flustered in her inability to handle the children, and curses after she told Dolly not to use such words. When they bring the children back, Pete informs Karen that he will be moving farther away, closer to the Mexican border, because oil was found there. 

So, Karen has not been an empowered person in many aspects of her life. She provides another example of this fact on the way back to Oklahoma. She admits that she and Pete were underage and thought they could get married in Louisiana, but were denied permission. However, because they were considered to have a common law marriage, they did have to officially get divorced. This contradiction is not lost on Dolly who says, “Goddamn government fucks you coming and going.” Streep gets to show off her lovely voice as she sings “Amazing Grace.” The words about being saved seem to contradict the reality of her situation at that time. She says that she could have driven off with her children. Drew suggests he sees Karen’s irresponsibility when he asks, “What would you have done with them?” She shrugs and confesses she does not have a clue. It’s the idea of having a family that she likes, but she is not prepared to cope with motherhood. 

Back at work, a male friend of Karen’s, Joe (Will Patton), tells Karen he and other men were “burying” a truck a couple of days prior. The word implies a literal and figurative cover-up. Drew wants to know who the smiling Joe is, and she just says it’s a friend of a friend. But one gets the impression that Karen has been with other men, and Drew, out of jealousy, questions her whenever she speaks to other guys. 

Little details add texture to the story. One woman, Thelma (Sudie Bond), talks about her daughter borrowing her good wig because her child is battling cancer. Right after one feels sympathy for her situation, Thelma then undermines that compassion as she reveals her bigotry when she says they were letting her child die “next to a colored” person.  Gilda talks about going to church and getting sick from a casserole, which just shows everyday happenings that may occur anywhere (although getting sick from tainted food resonates with the idea that many people can be sickened by radiation from the plant). Karen finds out Gilda didn’t have to cover Karen’s shifts because the plant closed down due to contamination right after Karen left work on Friday. Gilda tells Karen that the rumor is that the company wants to blame Karen for the contamination because she wanted to get the weekend off, and had expressed the wish that the facility would shut down. 

Karen along with her fellow employees are now in hazmat gear as others scrub the walls of their work area. The other workers go along with the company line and blame her for the radiation leak in her area. When Karen visits where Drew is working she says she hates that people think she would do something dangerous like cause a toxic leak. He sarcastically tells her to quit and live off of her “savings.” His statement shows how her poverty keeps her, and by implication all the workers there, under the thumb of the company. Quincy (Henderson Forsythe), who is the local union leader, explains the scapegoat policy of the owners who have “to blame somebody, otherwise, it’s their fault.” The company can’t prove Karen is guilty, so instead those in charge spread a poisonous rumor. Quincy’s statement is not only an admission about the reality of the strength of those in power, but also the feeling that it is next to impossible to challenge them. One of the male workers gawks at Karen, and she realizes she is being objectified sexually. She flashes a breast at him to embarrass his adolescent behavior, but she also demonstrates her rule-breaking attitude. Karen’s uninhibited sexual nature is stressed in the next scene when Dolly is cleaning Winston’s office and he tries to put a move on her. She says she is “really not interested,” and that is not an exaggeration since, as we learn later, she is gay. However, she advises him to “try Karen,” which also reflects jealousy on her part concerning Karen’s sexual activity.

Dolly walks out and sees Thelma being rushed to the decontamination unit. Dolly tells Karen, who then runs to be with Thelma as she is washed down. The older woman cries that the sensor alarm went off after she suspected a leak. She has a daughter who is dying of cancer, and Thelma’s wig sitting on the table suggests that she may be joining her child. Earl Lapin (Charles Hallahan), the medical person there, says there was “no internal contamination.” But Thelma points out the man was trained as a veterinarian. It’s not very comforting to know that the company hired someone whose credentials are in doubt. 

Back home, Dolly and Drew joke as Drew says he will have to sell his body to earn enough money to open an auto and live bait shop. She says she’ll give him five dollars for his body and consider it “a charitable donation.” But Karen was rattled by what is happening at the nuclear power plant and aims displaced anger toward them. When Karen says that Thelma might get cancer, Dolly, referring to her janitorial job, says “Dolly Trashbags” is the one who will get the disease. Karen claims that Dolly makes everything about herself. The look on Dolly’s face shows that the remark hurt her. Drew says they all are equally at risk getting sick from the radiation. Outside, Drew asks the in-denial Karen if she is just “waking up” after two years to the risk they take working at the plant. He says sarcastically that they aren’t working with “puffed rice.” He points out that if she is really worried about cancer, she should stop smoking, which the film shows all the characters indulge in. Karen hesitates a minute, as if naively not realizing that health risks are all around her. As they go to bed, there is a shot of Dolly sitting by herself at the kitchen table. That loneliness carries over into the next morning as Dolly sits alone again near the living room window. Karen apologizes for being angry with her. Dolly says she loves Karen, and Karen tells her she loves her, too, but just as a friend. Dolly has clung to Karen and thus put herself in emotional jeopardy even though she has no chance at an intimate relationship.

At work, after having seen what Thelma went through, Karen starts to talk about the conditions they have to deal with. One of the male workers wants to know why Karen is now so interested in their health. She is becoming a responsible adult and is starting to “wake up” to the danger they are in. She feels guilty that she didn’t notice that Thelma wasn’t given a nasal smear to determine internal contamination. When she sees the woman outside, Karen tells Thelma to get the smear, which shows she is now thinking about the welfare of others. She says that she should make sure that they tell Thelma the readings because there are a “lot of liars around here.” She happens to say these words just as Hurley walks by, and he looks at her like she is in trouble. 

Karen helps celebrate Gilda's birthday at work, and the little bit of fun the employees are having dies down as Hurley enters their area (from above, of course, again stressing the powerful position of the boss). He rains on their parade as he complains how they are behind on production and don’t have time for a party. He threatens them with losing their jobs if they take even this small amount of time away from their duties. He is such a joyless company man that he tells Karen she should clean up the cake crumbs after her workday.

Later, Karen performs routine vacuuming after the cleaning of the contaminated area where she works. As she leaves she monitors herself and alarms go off. So, the procedures of the company to make the work area safe are inadequate. Karen now undergoes the humiliating scrubbing that she witnessed Thelma undergoing as the threat has become even more immediate to her. She must bring in urine samples on a regular basis. Back home, Karen recounts a past conversation with her mother who asked how she was taking care of her fingernails. It is a recollection to a time when that simple personal grooming item was important and now seems insignificant given her deadly exposure. She remembers when she was in school and her mother told her to take home economics, and Karen told her the boys were in science class. These seemingly simple words show what roles boys and girls were expected to assume. Even if Karen took science, it was just to meet boys, not find a career. The irony is that she works in a place created by those in the science field, and because corners were cut from the business side of science’s discoveries, she is in danger. Drew quietly says he wishes he could take better care of her, and kisses her, saying he can’t stay away from Karen, even if it risks exposing himself. It is frightening to think that it is literally dangerous to be affectionate toward someone a person cares about. 

Now that the threat has hit home, Karen pulls out information provided by the union that she did not read before, since many people in this location just need a job, and in economically depressed areas, health is put on the back burner when one must cook the food on the front ones. Karen reads to Dolly about how plutonium causes cancer and can be transmitted genetically to children. She reads that it can cause physical and mental defects. Dolly comments humorously that she already has those. It is a funny line, but it also shows how average folks tend to dismiss science in everyday life because it sounds too complicated or could be a threat to regular routines. 

Karen finds out she has been transferred to the Metallography Department, which means she can’t acquire overtime pay until she learns the new job. Her employer exposed Karen to poor safety conditions, and then punished her economically, as if for retribution for her alleged negligence. She must now work with the sleazy Winston. It is his department that checks to make sure that the welds in fuel rods containing radioactive elements are intact. However, Karen happens upon Winston doctoring x-rays, filling in white spots with a dark pen. When she questions him, he says he already checked the welds and they were fine, and he was simply correcting imperfections in the film. Here is another example of the company eliminating safety steps that would fix a dangerous problem because being thorough would result in slowing down lucrative production time. 

To add insult to contaminating injury, the company is trying to get rid of the union. Kerr-Magee obtained enough signatures from workers worried about losing their jobs if they disagreed with their employer to hold a “decertification” vote. Quincy, the union man, says the company is making one and a half billion dollars, which shows that they are raking in the profits with little regard for their employees. He also says that because of a failed workers’ strike in the prior year they lost union members. Karen volunteers to help as she moves toward labor activism. She is assigned to a negotiating committee. Drew warns her that she has to use restraint because her flashing people and cursing them will not go over well when dealing with management. We have the theme here (similar to that other movie about the plight of workers, Norma Rae) that one’s past should not diminish the facts concerning the present. 

Drew and Karen try to suppress giggles when they hear lovemaking sounds coming from Dolly’s room. In the morning they learn that Dolly hooked up with a beautician named Angela (Diana Scarwid), so Dolly’s gay status is out in the open, as opposed to the company’s desire to hide the truth. Dolly, like Karen, breaks the rules of “acceptable” society. Is she capable of evolving by attempting to detach herself from her romantic feelings for Karen, or is she hoping to make Karen jealous? After Dolly and Angela leave, Karen and Drew say there is nothing wrong with Dolly having a gay relationship, but Karen insightfully notes that talking about it means they are allowing discussion where there shouldn’t be any. However, they are not as enlightened as they pretend when they are both a bit shocked when they see Angela moving in with Dolly.

Karen is now, like Norma Rae, very involved in union business. She argues on the phone at home that the company has no right to stop them during their breaks from discussing union activities. Drew walks in, but as soon as he hears what Karen is doing, he turns right around and walks out. He does not like change, like many people, but is also feeling neglected. He is like Norma Rae’s husband played by Beau Bridges, who feels as if he is losing touch with his female companion. Angela, while applying makeup on Dolly, warns Karen about Kerr-Magee because the company is very powerful. She has learned that fact from working on their clients. An angry Drew, not happy about Angela now living there, says Dolly looks like a “corpse.” He then finds out that Angela (an angel of death?) works at the funeral home. So Drew’s comment about Dolly’s appearance takes a dark turn, which is stressed when Angela says she knows, “when a dead person I beautify worked for Kerr-Magee because they all look like they died before they died.” Her chilling comment implies that the nuclear facility drains the life out of the people who ironically are trying to make a living there. 

The foreshadowing of death continues when Angela advises Karen to wear something that will not wrinkle on her plane trip to Washington D.C. to attend a conference. Drew, not feeling comfortable with the presence of death that Angela represents, uses dark humor by telling Karen she can wear a “shroud.” 

In Washington, national union lawyer Paul Stone (Ron Silver) and union leader Max Richter (Josef Sommer) meet Karen, Quincy, and Morgan to prepare them for the meeting with the Atomic Energy Commission. Richter is polite but leaves early because all he is hearing are complaints without evidence of wrongdoing. Karen runs after the union men who have left and mentions about the altered x-ray films of rods that are meant to be shipped to a breeder reactor. Richter points out that defective fuel rods in that type of nuclear device could kill two million people. He wants her to get documentation of the falsification of the radiographs so the union can blow the whistle on the company. Karen is reluctant to go public out of fear of retribution. Karen is now like a character in a Steven Spielberg film, an ordinary person who is in extraordinary circumstances. She must decide whether to accept Richter’s challenge to act as he says the situation constitutes “a moral imperative.” 

The story jumps back to Oklahoma, where Quincy is presenting a slide show of the trip with Karen and Drew in attendance. There are pictures of the Capitol Building and the Lincoln Memorial, idealized symbols of justice which contrast with the actual disregard by the company for the citizens working at the reactor building. There are compromising shots of Karen arm-in-arm with Paul in front of the hotel Karen stayed at, and also of the two sitting very close at a dinner table. Karen and Drew look uncomfortable as they view these slides. On the way home, Karen assures Drew that nobody else knows about her spying for the union, so others are safe from detection. But her actions also leave her more on her own. She repeats the “moral imperative” line to justify what she will try to do. But she has not been moral in her own life, since it appears that she was unfaithful to Drew. His reaction is less visionary and more practical as he sees many people losing their jobs by fighting the company. 

Back home, Drew suggests that if they quit their jobs then the two could go away together. He already earns money as a car mechanic on the side. But she says she can’t leave now. The implication is that she has found a purpose beyond her personal wants. But he tells her he already quit and just wants her to himself. He is basically forcing her to make a choice between her cause or him. She walks away when he says he doesn’t “give a shit” about others, and then he says to his pessimistic, cynical, yet realistic self, “Don’t give me a problem I can’t solve.” Drew then moves out, saying Karen is now like two people, and he is in love with one of them, which is the older version. One could say he should have stayed to support Karen’s cause, but some people are just not cut out for the type of life that demands deep self-sacrifice, sometimes at the expense of loved ones.

There is some suspense when Winston catches Karen looking in one of his desk drawers. She says the company doesn’t allow her to bring in medication so she hid antihistamines there. He says he doesn’t believe her, but he finds a bottle of capsules. She may have planted them there just in case a situation such as this one occurred. At a meeting with Paul and some doctors, the workers learn that a pollen-sized bit of plutonium can cause cancer. The materials the company gave the employees note nothing about the risks of developing anything carcinogenic. Again, the big business kept knowledge a secret for exploitative purposes, and even lied about an acceptable level of exposure which the doctors say there is none. After the meeting, Winston confronts Paul and makes a good point, asking why is the union so concerned now that the company has plans to decertify, and were not trying to protect the health of the workers before? Winston says no matter what happens to the employees, Paul gets to go back to his safe job in Washington. He says that the company is rich enough that they would close the plant to avoid bad publicity and then all the workers would lose their jobs, which is what the practical Drew was telling Karen. Winston however denies the idea that the workers are in any harm since he obviously has been bought off to falsify the x-rays. 

Paul says they should not get too involved romantically, and after he leaves, Karen can’t get in touch with him anymore. She calls to tell him that the union defeated decertification but then describes how much stress she is under. However, the voicemail cuts her off. First the company used her and now so has one of the union representatives. Winston was right about Paul not really caring about its members as individuals but only about the union’s overall organization, similar to the company’s practice. The stress on Karen is evident as there is animosity between Karen and Dolly because of her focus on her local union participation. Karen calls to talk with her children, but she does so after her work shift and union activities are done for the day, so they are always asleep. She feels “alone” now, which is partly due to her own choices. 

Karen escapes her personal problems through her activism at the nuclear plant. Hurley tries to undermine the union by telling Thelma that the union will not allow blood donations for her ailing daughter. At a meeting with Hurley, who keeps delaying any negotiations with the union, he denies he lied to Thelma about the donating of blood. Karen, feeling empowered now, says she has already scheduled a bloodmobile to come to the location. 

Dolly is now feeling depressed because she misses Drew and especially because Angela went back to her husband. Dolly’s character arc mirrors Karen’s as they both try to move forward only to have lovers reject them along the way. She at first blames Angela’s leaving on Karen’s animosity toward her girlfriend. The two escalate their argument because they are both hurting. Dolly says that Drew left because Karen didn’t take care of him, the same way she didn’t meet the needs of her children. That last remark gets at what really is tearing Karen apart. Dolly, who really loves Karen, apologizes and the two sit on a swing on the porch. Karen wonders if Drew was right about quitting and moving away to some place that’s “clean.” That word stresses the toxicity of the place where they work. Dolly, still hoping for Karen's affection, asks if just the two of them can leave together. Karen smiles and shakes her head because she knows she can’t give Dolly what she wants. Dolly knows it, too, and cries. Karen holds Dolly to comfort her, and rocks her, as the two appear like a mother with her child. She even sings Dolly a lullaby.

At the job, Karen says she is not hungry, and Gilda says the same about her husband. Are the two feeling effects of radiation poisoning? Gilda says it’s due to working too much and says her husband has been working late flushing out pipes because there has been a problem with accounting for lost plutonium. Karen zeroes in on that fact while the others just seem to want to dismiss the problem. But Karen knows it means that there could be some leaking of the lethal material, and writes down what Gilda says. Gilda says Karen should just be negotiating wages and avoid what is “none of our business.” She doesn’t want to acknowledge that, as Karen says, “this is our business.” That isolation Karen spoke of earlier carries over into the workplace as fellow employees now shun Karen. They fear her protests, which are aimed at improving their working environment, but they may cause the place to shut down. The film here suggests that the rich and powerful use the poverty of the workers as a tool against themselves, creating division among their members. 

Karen finally contacts Paul by using a public phone, probably worried that hers might be tapped. She notes the many health problems of the workers, but Paul stresses that they need the x-ray falsifications. He has put her in a dangerous position, using her as a pawn, and fellow union representative Morgan warns her of the danger she is in. Hurley uses intimidation by pointing out that Karen is late coming to work and returning from breaks (she was late before earlier on, but now it is not because of bad work habits but due to her crusade against unsafe conditions). 

After going to Gilda ‘s work area to try and get more information about the plutonium, which Gilda refuses to discuss, Karen again sets off the radiation monitoring alarm. She undergoes the scrubbing procedure once more, and Earl repeats that her exposure was superficial. He says she must now provide daily urine samples. In a foreshadowing scene, Karen, not feeling well, hits a deer and her car veers off the road. She calls Drew, and the two wind up in bed together. Dolly is thrilled that he is back, as she hopes for a return to their odd form of normalcy. But Drew tells Dolly he has his own place, and the two women are welcome to go there. His offer is a form of sanctuary to that “clean” place Karen yearned for, and shows how his coming back would just be an acceptance of an unhealthy situation. The fact that Karen spills some of her urine on the bathroom floor emphasizes the unclean nature of the place.

When Karen goes to work the next day, after being asked by the guard at the entrance how she’s doing, she jokingly says she’s “in the pink,” which is supposed to mean she’s okay. But pink is a shade of red, the color of being “cooked,” and the alarms go off before she even enters the building. The cleaning occurs again, and she cries as her body feels assaulted. Men from the company show up in hazmat gear and strip Karen’s house since the Geiger counter readings register radiation. The measures they take on the house are supposed to be for health reasons, but the company has created the mess that they are now cleaning up by invading Karen’s home. She fights to try to keep the framed photos of her children, but they take them from her, symbolically wiping away her family. Hurley says that there are no significant readings coming from Drew or Dolly, and none in Karen’s car. But there are elevated readings on the toilet, sink, and even cosmetics. Hurley accuses her of deliberately bringing the plutonium home just to “hurt” the company. Karen is smart, and remembers that she spilled the urine. She believes that the kit they gave her was “spiked” with plutonium, and when she spilled it the radiation spread. But her nasal swab indicates internal contamination, which the spilling would not explain. Karen is now hysterical from fear. Hurley seems compassionate now, promising to help Dolly with a place to stay and offering money. He is attempting to shut down her attempt at exposing the company’s unsafe work environment. Karen realizes his plan and says she knows he wants her to sign a statement that would waive any claims against the plant. She refuses to sacrifice her integrity and says that she is contaminated and she knows she is dying, and then drives off. 

Drew returns to the house he shared with Karen which now looks like a decaying corpse, which mirrors what happens to those ravaged by radiation exposure. Winston arrives and says he’s just looking around, but it appears that he is gloating. Drew’s outrage at what has happened to the person he loves boils over and he slugs Winston. He finds Karen at his house and Karen says she is convinced that the company has exposed her and wants her dead.

The three of them fly to Los Alamos, New Mexico, which has a history of dealing with nuclear bombs and radiation. The place seems to have caused and then tried to deal with the literal fallout of nuclear energy. On the plane, Karen reads an article by the journalist who Paul wanted to interview Karen. The article says that there is plutonium missing from almost all nuclear facilities. The danger is not just relegated to a few people, but now seems to be the threat that Karen heard about in Washington from union boss Richter. Karen wonders if the attack on her was because Dolly mentioned about Paul dealing with the New York Times, and Karen’s knowledge about the doctored x-rays. Dolly is not convincing in her denials, and she looks guilty. 

Despite the advanced scientific research and years of studying radioactive materials, the experts say they can be off by as much as three hundred percent in their readings. Karen has lost all faith in a world that finds individuals expendable, saying all the doctors are “liars.” She calls Paul and says she wants to talk to the journalist but she doesn't admit that she doesn’t have the x-ray evidence yet. As they fly back to Oklahoma, Drew says he would love to live in the southwestern part of America “forever,” The look on Karen’s face shows that she knows that her time left has become much more finite. Later Drew still talks about moving, and even having children, which Karen doubts can be possible now. He says in New Mexico you make the shapes of the rooms in a house any way one wants. He says, “It’s not a right-angle kind of life.” Karen has always been someone who didn’t comply with standard ways of living, but the personal tragedy is that she wasn’t able to find a place that really felt like home to her. 

Karen gets up the next morning, on time now, saying she has to go into work and then later to a union meeting. Drew warns her not to try and take anything out of the plant, suspecting she is going for the x-rays. That is why she wants Drew to pick up Paul and the journalist. She doesn’t want to fight with Drew and they smile and joke for the last time. In the background Karen again sings “Amazing Grace,” but now the words seem to imply that Karen has redeemed her soul. 

When she leaves the cafe after the union meeting there is over, it is dark. There are glaring headlights approaching very close to Karen’s car. The next image is that of Karen’s wrecked car, which was foretold by the earlier accident involving the deer.  There is a shot of Karen’s tombstone, but the last image is a flashback of Karen and Drew at their final happy moment together, followed by Karen driving off. It is a fitting closure to the story that started with her driving towards us. The movie ends with notes that say that Karen had a tranquilizer and alcohol in her system. Her death was declared to be accidental. No documents were found in her ruined car. The plant later closed. But her story now lasts forever.

The next film is Some Like It Hot.