Saturday, June 18, 2005

Andrew Sarris

“But there is nothing '30s or '40s about the eponymous heroine of Norma Rae played with '60s and '70s carnality by Sally Field. She is magnificent as the warm-hearted easy lay who discovers dignity and honor and a world of mind in her platonic association with Ron Leibman's perceptive Pygmalion. Here, the Magdalen of motel sex is transformed before our eyes into the Madonna of trade unionism. Yet we are made to feel also that the same warmth and passion that went into the sex has gone into the idealism. Norma Rae does not "reform"; she simply finds a more satisfying outlet for her emotional energy. Throughout the fiom, she is "country" and "family" in the best Southern sense. She is as spunky and as funny as Jean Arthur and Ginger Rogers in the vintage working girl movies, but she is much earthier than the censors of earlier eras would ever allow.

“There is an oddly nervous chemistry in the Field-Liebman scenes, but they never explode embarrassingly. At the most dangerous moments the qualities of tact and restraint and eventual respect come into play both with regard to the characters and to the performers…. As for Sally Field, she seems to have taken a giant step toward stardom, though I am beginning to wonder if any actress can achieve stardom in today's volatile atmosphere….

“…. Realist critics may complain as much as they want about the sentimentally contrived ending here. The fact remains that Norma Rae is one of the few current movies brave enough to suggest that the vast majority of mankind and womankind have to sweat to make a living.”

Andrew Sarris
Village Voice, March 5 ?, 1979

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