Norma Rae

A bona-fide folk heroine.

As a rule, the filmmakers manufacture fake climaxes every 10 or 15 minutes, poop out and lapse into forgetfulness, just as if they were structuring the material for television.

It's a dear and corny story, played with lovable grubbiness by Sally Field and Ron Leibman, but it's not about what you think.

Photographed in murky yellows and browns by John Alonzo, this 1979 film is sluggish and vague, trivializing its subject in a wash of unearned sentimentality.

Norma Rae is that rare entity, an intelligent film with heart.

Nicely performed by a strong cast, especially Field and Leibman, it's often mawkishly soft, but surprisingly touching.

...a deliberately-paced drama that grows more and more compelling as it unfolds...

I can't get over how loud Norma Rae is...but that loudness is the point, as it underscores the working conditions of the overworked and underpaid laborers in the film.

Best of all is Sally Field -- this may be her finest performance, the most exuberant and the most intelligent. She'll get an Academy nomination next year if there's any justice. Hyperbole aside: this is simply a good film.

Rae's ordinariness lends to extraordinary onscreen entertainment.