Stephen Farber

“…. Kimberly isn't a political firebrand; she's a hustler who wants to graduate to a better job. Her obsession with the nuclear story is motivated by ambition as well as by moral concern, and this rings true. At the start, Fonda does a fine job of capturing Kimberly's docility; she brings her customary imagination to the role. But the more interesting character is the power-plant engineer, Jack Godell (Jack Lemmon)… His moral dilemma is the heart of the film, and Lemmon is deeply moving…

“The China Syndrome has a potent subject, a solid story and two fine performances. Why, then, is the movie so fatally lacking in suspense?….”

Stephen Farber
New West, April 9, 1979