Sally Field won her first Oscar for this 1979 film, delivering an insightful and nuanced portrayal as Norma Rae Webster, a minimum-wage worker at a noisy textile factory in a small North Carolina town. A single mother of two living with her parents (both of whom work at the plant), Norma is in a cycle of low expectations and bad entanglements with the wrong kind of men. When union organizer Reuben (Ron Leibman) comes to town to rally employees to make demands for better working conditions, Norma is drawn to the cause and becomes an irritant to management but also a leader to some—not all—of her friends and neighbors. Director Martin Ritt brings a genuine grit to the story, capturing a sense of real lives affected by actual challenges, of people wavering on a cause due to the personal costs involved. Ritt also has a great feel for adult relationships, especially the unusual friendship that develops between Norma and Reuben. Conventional storytelling would have brought the two together romantically, but the more interesting choice here is a kind of hip intimacy that precludes becoming lovers yet is driven by complete honesty (a chaste, skinny-dipping scene involving Norma and Reuben underscores the pair's trust and frankness). Beau Bridges is appealing as Norma's impetuous but patient husband, and Pat Hingle is terrific as her concerned father. Making its Blu-ray debut, extras include a “Hollywood Backstory” featurette. Highly recommended. (T. Keogh)
Norma Rae
Fox, 114 min., PG, Blu-ray: $19.99 Volume 29, Issue 4
Norma Rae
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
Order From Your Favorite Distributor Today: