Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

Lawbolisted Powerful

Merolliv I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

GregP89 Excellent film, several yrs prior to 'Norma Rae' sally field took her acting abilities to a higher level with her performance in the 1976 made for TV film 'Sybil', essentially a remake of 'the Three Faces of Eve'. In fact, Oscar winning actress Joanne Woodward who won Best Actress for this latter film, was a Supporting actress in 'Sybil', an d portrayed the Therapist Counselor medical Expert working with Sally Field. Nonetheless, one of the Great "Travesties" that Actress Sally Field did upon winning the 1979 Oscar for Best Actress was forgetting to thank the love or her Life (at that time), Burt Reynolds ("who was in the audience seated next to her") during her acceptance speech. 21 yrs later, in 1998, Actress Julia Roberts would repeat the same mistake by forgetting to thank her Live-in-lover Actor Benjamin Bratt ('who was in the audience seated right next to her') during her acceptance speech, in winning Best Actress for 'Erin Brockovich' (2000).Both actresses upon received the script and looked to their lover and said "DO YOU THINK I CAN DO THIS PART?...I Don't THINK I CAN, I'VE not DONE ANYTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE.....OH DO YOU REALLY THINK I CANDO IT"?. Wisely, both Burt and Benjamin (TV series leading man) both told their girlfriends,..honey you can anything you can put your mind to....that's why i love you. Both actress auditioned for their respective roles...AND the "Rest is History".

FilmGangster This is a very good movie. It is extremely fun to watch. The movie is simple to explain, basically the movie is about a labor organizer who comes to a small southern town with the mission to set up a labor union at the local cotton mill. Obviously, the mill does not want it's workers to organize. After the organizer arrives he ends up making friends with a worker at the mill. Obviously there is more to the story then this but this is the basic synopsis. The film does a good job of telling the story of how some of the blue collar workers are treated in our country. The quality of the film stock reminds me of a B movie. But the acting and story are superb and nothing short of a quality A list flick. I know the movie came out in 1979, so I was expecting a little lower quality film stock but this is so far below the standards of the time that I think it was by design to help put the viewers in the shoes of the cotton mill workers. The trick was nothing short of effective, I think this low quality of the film's picture helped put me in the right frame of mind. As far as the acting goes it is great. In fact Sally field wan an Oscar for her performance in the movie. And I think the labor organizer at least deserved a nomination. The other Oscar that the film won was for Best Original Song, and the song deserved it. The music here is simple and the song defiantly anchors the light soundtrack. Other then these two wins the film was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture. Those last two nominations go to show just how good this movie really is!!! Take my advise, WATCH IT!

smatysia A good acting vehicle for Sally Field, who did show her chops. She only occasionally overdoes the Southern accent. The plot is about union organizing in a Southern textile mill. Surprisingly they do not go too far in depicting management recalcitrance, not even portraying violence from them. Less surprisingly, they also ignore union violence and intimidation, a standard tactic. Well, the textile industry did unionize in the Seventies and Eighties, and it died in the Nineties. All those jobs are now in Guatemala and Bangladesh. Interestingly, the only real energy left in the union movement is in government workers, as they have no competition to hold back union excesses.

Emil Bakkum Norma Rae is definitely one of the most interesting films about the trade union movement, that I have encountered so far. The film is equally fascinating for people, who want to know more about poor labor conditions, or manufacturing and production in general. It was made in 1978, and describes the installation of trade union representatives in a rural USA textile factory. We must credit the USA film makers, since surprisingly I do not know of comparable modern films from West-Germany or France. I like the many shots of the atmosphere at the weaving-looms, since it portrays an industry that was once vital for the early development of our economies. Clothing remains a primary need - but we in the west have lost touch with its production. In the Netherlands, most of the factories were closed in the seventies and eighties, due to the fierce Asian competition. Indeed it is mostly unskilled labor. In fact the film looks like a documentary, and social realism is used in the narrative. The acting of Sally Field (as the working woman Norma Rae) and Ron Leibman (as the organizer Reuben) is convincing, and the dialogs are credible. Obviously the textile factory in the film is a poor representative of its kind. The management is not malicious, but simply primitive, stupid and insensitive. When the father of Norma Rae suffers a stroke of paralysis during work, the overseer orders him to continue until the forthcoming break. A few minutes later the man drops dead in a cart filled with yarn. The noise in the building is ear-splitting, and there are actually some earcaps, but nobody sees to their usage. At a certain moment, it causes the temporary loss of the communicativeness by the mother of Norma Rae. The remaining question to be answered is whether the script writers and the director have done their research with respect to the approach of the trade unions. I think they did, which is quite an achievement, since it concerns a complicated social phenomenon. It is essential to appreciate, that trade unions are meeting-places for the egoism of workers, and not bastions of solidarity. Norma Rae is a textile worker, who becomes engaged in union agitation. She claims, that she acts on behalf of a better future for her children, but in doing so she leaves their care to her husband (I predict that the marriage will not last). The character sketch suggests a strong selfishness. Finally she gets fired, but this may subconsciously be intended, since a better carrier as a union representative looms at the horizon. In addition she is not qualified for unionist agitation: whereas professional unionists normally act their anger and emotions, Norma Rae explodes in fits of rage - although she seems to have an instinct for quitting at the right time. Now and then her feeling of justice is twisted. Temporarily she even accepts a promotion as workplace inspector ("I need the extra money"). Her rise as a union representative seems hardly beneficial for the reputation of the union. In fact, she is visited by two union administrators, who want to depose her. This is prevented by Reuben, the local union organizer. Reuben is a strong advocate of the bottom-up approach, and the mentor of Norma Rae. As a matter of fact, such types exist in trade-unions, think about the justice-for-janitors movement. But actually they are quite rare, because unions are central organizations, which puts such organizers in a perpetual war with their bureaucracy. Therefore in most cases the organizers are hired on temporary contracts. Their conviction and belief in the just cause are unshakable - which is of course partly a facade. Reuben will not stop when Norma Rae must face to be laid off, or when a pregnant picketer is beat up. In the end we see him horse riding to the setting sun, on his way to defeat the next injustice. In conclusion, the film is a true depiction of real life. Nevertheless, the events in the film are also exceptional and provide the myth, that trade-unions need to justify their existence. The film makers seem to have grasped, that stupidity is everywhere and not restricted to entrepreneurs.