Review of Swing Shift (1984) by Monsieur R — 18 Dec 2010

An odd little female-empowerment film set during WWII that suffers from odd plot developments and pacing. Hawn and Demme had some personal disagreements working on the film, and their arguments made a noticeable impact on the final cut.

Sometimes it's hard to tell what Swing Shift is trying to say about women working during WWII. They're empowered, fall in and out of love, and learn new skills, but they also need men to pick them up and are made to feel guilty for not only new romances, but working for themselves.

In the end the film settles for a bittersweet "we did it!" moment, but the film as a whole doesn't feel balanced. Maybe it's the difference between Kurt Russell's and Ed Harris' characters.

Russell is undeniably more a star, so it makes sense to have him play the dark horse. Still, the film never decides whether it's alright for Hawn to cheat on her Husband (Harris) with co-worker Russell if they were really in love.

I guess that's part of the point (does love confine itself to marriage?), but it feels like something got left on the cutting-room floor which would have made for a more satisfying and complete film.