The China Syndrome (1979) ~ Houdini's Magic Movie Ticket
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Thursday, January 24, 2008

The China Syndrome (1979)

I just watched this, and I think it's pretty good. It's definitely got a gripping storyline.

Jane Fonda plays an anchorwoman who suffers through the '70's male chauvinism depicted in Will Ferrel's "Anchorman." While she takes her work as a broadcast journalist very seriously, none of her bosses do. She wants to do hard news, but they won't let her. Enter a nuclear controversy story.

Michael Douglas is her trusty cameraman. Together they go for a run-of-the-mill story at the local nuclear power plant. They happen to be there when a mistake is made by the head guy there, played by Jack Lemmon. Everybody almost dies, but throughout the film the people answering "was there danger?" play it way, way down, including Lemmon. The error Lemmon experienced opens his eyes to an even bigger problem looming with the plant, that spirals to the point where he's the only one who knows the town (and part of the country) is doomed unless they shut the plant down. A lot of money's at stake though, and people are willing to kill to prevent a shutdown. So the action picks up to a major degree near the end, especially when Lemmon can't get his coworker buddy Wilford Brimley to take his concerns seriously without a gun.

I noticed a few undertones of "Women vs. Men" and "Modern Extremism vs. The Establishment." It felt a little preachy. In spite of that, I found the film enjoyable.

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