Stephen Schiff

“…. Her hair dyed Brenda Starr-red, Jane Fonda plays Kimberly Wells, a reporter for a Los Angeles TV station. You've seen Kimberly before. She's the bright-eyed looker with the ivory smile who does the fluff reporting, and there's a woman like her on just about every network affiliate in the country. Of course, Kimberly wants to be an investigative reporter, and we get glimpses of the intelligence and drive that might make her a good one. But you can't fight ratings. "You didn't get this job because of your investigative abilities," her saturnine station manager hisses. "By the way, I like your hair. Keep it that way."….

“… [F]or the most part, Bridges's direction is crisp and restrained, creating a cold, rather remote atmosphere that mirrors his characters' studied professionalism perfectly. These people are their jobs…. The film is… marvelously economical in its character touches. In one remarkable scene, Fonda's Kimberly enters her house, picks up her pet turtle and turns on her telphone message tape. We hear her mother nattering on about nothing; we hear a sexy male voice reminding her that he'd once picked her up and could they get together for a drink; and then we hear Douglas calling her an asshole for sucking up to the TV executives. On her mantelpiece is a picture of Marilyn Monroe--another pretty face who suffered from typecasting. In a few terse shots, Bridges has told us everything we need to know about Kimberly Wells. [There isn't more to know?]

“And of course, the story of Kimberly Wells is Jane Fonda's favorite; it's the story of her life, the story of the woman she keeps playing over and over, of the Barbie doll who becomes politicized, gains strength and develops a conscience. Originally, The China Syndrome had no major woman's role. Richard Dreyfuss was to star as a documentary filmmaker who witnessed the accident. After he turned down the role for financial reasons, Fonda was shown the script, and she and Bridges sat down to create a part for her. Small wonder, then, that Kimberly Wells comes out sounding a lot like Lillian Hellman in Julia or Sally Hyde in Coming Home. I like her Hellman a lot but I've liked her roles progressively less since then: she was pallid and self-important in Coming Home, strained in Comes a Horseman and awful in California Suite. No matter. In The China Syndrome, she's splendid: direct, emotional and often very funny. Still, I wish Fonda would stretch herself more. Replaying her own history from the Vadim days to the Hayden era can't be much of a challenge. Could she still portray a Bree Daniels, the smart, bitchy call girl of Klute? Though The China Syndrome may be created in her image, it's also a pretty conventional thriller, and there's not much room in it for depth of characterization. When I raised some of these questions with her over brunch, Fonda grew livid. "Isn't it enough just to raise issues?" she yelled. No, not enough. But in the case of The China Syndrome, it's a good start.”

Stephen Schiff
Boston Phoenix, March 20, 1979