Word: reubens
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...however derives much of its power from the screenplay written by Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank, Jr.--it's hokey as hell but it plays. Motivated by a magazine article by Henry F. Leifermann, the screenplay delineates the growing bond between Norma Rae, a hard-assed little cracker and Reuben (Ron Leibman) a New York Jewish labor organizer who comes down to unionize her factory. Refreshingly, their bond stems not from wild, trans-ethnic couplings but from a shared philosophy towards life. Ravetch and Frank use humor, wit and most of all, respect in their screenplay--as a result, their...
...coal mining but instead, they capture the numbing, back-breaking monotony which is just as lethal to the spirit and body. Norma's struggle to organize her factory has an innocent vigor against which Ritt plays off the smugness surrounding the union officials who come down to confer with Reuben. Beefy, older men, they exude, along with their cigar smoke, a sense of grimy, urban power. In this scene, Ritt effectively portrays both the idealism and the reality of today's unions...
...emphasize just how platonic the bond between Norma and Reuben is, Ritt marries her off to Sonny Webster (Beau Bridges), the archtype 'good ole boy.' Handsome but lethargic, this youthful Billy Carter barely peeps while his new bride flies about doing labor organizing with the self-described 'lefto' from Central Park West. Bridges tries valiantly to inject this regional stereotype with credibility but unfortunately, his Sonny comes off like a muscle-bound teddy-bear blessed with the patience of Baptist Mother Theresa. Supposedly a divorced father, Sonny behaves with such liberated understanding that it seems impossible any woman would depart...
...management staff in the factory deserves kudos as well. Rather than performing as a contingent from the Ku Klux Klan in mufti, the six men act with an understated assurance which suggests, but does not exaggerate, both their down-home humanity and their anti-semitic hostility to Reuben--who does go out of his way to alienate them by swooping in on the factory like an ACLU avenging angel...
...LEFT the theater, a Reuben look-alike pressed a pamphlet into my hand. Urging a J.P. Stevens boycott, it outlined that company's many offenses. Like many people, I had always professed undying concern about unions and 'brown lung' and then promptly forgotten. The highest recommendation for Norma Rae is this--it won't let you forget...