Swing Shift (1984)

Starring: Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Ed Harris, Christine Lahti, Fred Ward, Charles Napier, and Holly Hunter
Grade: B-

No two people fall for each other faster than co-workers.

Summary

In Santa Monica, California on December 6th, 1941, the hard-working Jack Walsh (Harris) comes home to his loving wife Kay (Hawn). They live in a close and friendly neighborhood and have a great relationship. Despite this, Jack isn’t too fond of their singer neighbor Hazel (Christine Lahti), regularly calling her a tramp anytime he sees her. At night, we see Hazel perform for very few onlookers at “The Egyptian”, a cheap dance hall run by her boyfriend Biscuits Toohey (Ward). Why do they call him Biscuits? I don’t know. They never divulge that information.

Anyway, by the time they get home, Biscuits considers selling the Egyptian.

The next day, while Jack and Kay go skating, they are alerted of the Japanese bombing Pearl Harbor. That night, Jack tells Kay he has to enlist in the Navy to fight for the United States. He talks about the money he will send back to her too. Kay says she can still work, but Jack refuses this because he just wants her to stay home where it’s safe. She sees him off when he ships out. Upon getting home though, Kay looks lost without her husband by her side. At the Egyptian, there seems to be a lot of people there from the military, and it’s a successful night for the club, getting Biscuits’ hopes up about the place. Hazel asks him when she’ll get to sing, but he turns her down because he wants to attract a big name to the place instead. An already angry Hazel spots a nude picture of Frankie Parker (Alana Stewart) on his desk too, so she flips out and leaves him there, knocking all his papers off the table. At the movies, Kay sees a reel about how women are wanted for war production work and how much it will help the men fighting. She’s inspired and goes to apply the next day, meeting fellow housewife Violet (Lisa Pelikan) in the long line. Hazel signs up too. Her and all the other women get the swing shift of 4PM to midnight for 60 cents an hour. Kay greets Hazel and suggests they ride together back home, but Hazel has no interest because she knows Kay and Jack have insulted her either publicly or privately for quite some time now.

Following orientation, we see the women on the line working to mixed results. As Hazel gets hit on by the male workers there and isn’t cool with it, Kay struggles a bit and accidentally splits the back of leadman Lucky’s (Russell) shirt with a drill. Lucky downplays things and takes Kay outside to calm her down and make her feel better. They discuss Kay’s husband Jack where Lucky asks if he’s dead or not, and she tells him “No”. Despite this odd question thrown in the conversation, things are cool between them, and he leads her back into work. After her shift is over, Kay misses her bus, and Hazel rides a bike home alone. Lucky pulls up and lets Kay ride in the sidecar of his motorcycle. Once they get home, Kay asks him how he got the name “Lucky”, but he admits it’s a dirty reason and prefers not to say. Back on the road, Biscuits drives by and sees Hazel riding her bike home. He pulls over, gets out of the car, and tackles Hazel off the bike because she was trying to avoid him. He offers to give her a ride home, despite Frankie being in the car, but Hazel refuses and threatens to call the cops. Pissed off, he leaves. While taking a bath that night, Kay decides to cut her hair. Hazel finally rides in but falls off her bike once she gets into the neighborhood. Kay finds her sobbing on the ground and brings her in to rest. When Hazel gets up, the two talk and Kay acts as sweet as she can to her, despite Hazel’s disdain for Jack and her. Kay mentions how Jack would be mad to find out she’s been working, so Hazel adds in how she rode on Lucky’s motorcycle too, causing Kay to get defensive in a hurry. Even so, Kay offers words of encouragement to Hazel about her man situation right before she leaves.

The next day, Moon (Napier) flips out on Kay, Hazel, and the others for trying to take his parking space because he’s been there for twelve years and passes the “women working” thing off as a one-time ordeal.

With the exception of Lucky, we start to see that the men are getting very annoyed of the women working there and are teaming up against them with pranks and insults and such. It is during this time that Kay and Hazel’s friendship starts to grow with each other in solidarity, along with many of the other women as they’re all being treated like second-class citizens at the factory. During one shift, Kay gets into a public spat with Moon and tries to use an insult Hazel taught her but shuts up under the pressure. Following the shift, Kay and Hazel take the bus and are surprised to see Lucky on it, considering he has his motorcycle. He passes it off as “saving gas”, but it doesn’t take a genius to see he’s interested in Kay. He invites Kay to watch him play trumpet with his jazz band at Kelly’s, but she turns him down because she has a “million things to do” like writing a letter to Jack. He tries to talk to Hazel, but she shuts him down in seconds. Undeterred, Lucky takes the hint and goes to his gig. As time passes, we see Kay getting better at her job and with tasks at home, becoming much more of an independent woman very capable of handling any problem that comes her way. At the same time, she’s still constantly writing Jack. One day at work, Lucky offers Kay one more chance to come see his band play. Kay notes he’s been asking her out every week for the last five months, and she’s turned him down every time. He insists this will be the last time he asks and expects her to be there.

In the meantime, another U.S, carrier gets sunk by the Japanese and it’s announced at the factory over the loudspeaker. Some of the women start working even harder.

Kay tells Hazel about Lucky and asks if she can come along to make things more comfortable, but Hazel says she has faith in Kay, and it strengthens their friendship even more. That night, Kay and Lucky hangout at Kelly’s. After Lucky gifts her a flower and kisses her on the cheek, she tries to let him down easy, but she has to leave in her hurry once she spots her landlords Spike and Ethel enter the bar. Outside the place, Kay insists to Lucky she’s married and can’t cheat, but Lucky tries to encourage her to live her own life. She tells him to leave though and refuses his offer to drive her home. The next day at work, the girls are talking outside and Jeannie (Hunter), a member of the friend group and co-worker, is told her husband was killed in action.

On the loudspeaker at work, it’s announced that they’ve surpassed their quota for 1942. They will be having a “Swing Shift Jamboree” at the Egyptian on Saturday night to celebrate. As it’s announced, Lucky glances over at Kay. When she glances at him, he looks away. The night of the jamboree, Hazel isn’t interested in going, but Kay convinces her. Upon getting there, Hazel dances with some guy until Biscuits pulls her away to talk. He tries to get back with her, but she’s not interested. Back on the dance floor, we see Lucky killing it on the trumpet, and Kay can’t help but watch. Later that night, Kay approaches Lucky at the pier and compliments his skills. He’s happy to see her and once he compliments her and says how much better she looks without all the makeup and stuff, she decides to ask him for a ride home. Yes, it’s about to rain, but we can tell it’s because her heart is fluttering. He takes her home, and they get rained on by the time they get there. As she switches her wet clothes for dry ones, Lucky makes some food for the both of them. He plays some music and tells her he was looking all over for her at the jamboree and wanted to dance with her. They dance together in the living room, and Lucky asks about Jack. Soon after, it gets quiet as Hoagy Carmichael’s “Skylark” plays, and they start to kiss. That night, they have sex.

Right after, they talk about how Lucky was refused by the Army because he flunked the physical on account of a bad heart.

Well, good thing he’s a smoker.

They quickly get into an argument over his heart and her potentially worrying about him, as well as who came onto who, and Kay gets mad enough to show Lucky the door. Things calm down however, and he comes back in. They acknowledge they can’t really get away from each other since they work the swing shift every day and he’s in her life all the time. They embrace. Jack wants this and secretly, so does Kay. Despite Kay not wanting to cheat on Jack initially, she’s stuck in this very complicated relationship with Lucky for the time being and she hates that she likes it.

When she starts to give in, things look perfect, but it can’t last forever.

My Thoughts:

Swing Shift bothered me for a lot of reasons. Though the positives are the good cast, a “forbidden love” storyline to create a heightened sense of drama, and the time period making things more scandalous, I can’t help but feel let down by the time the movie ends.

Everything begins and ends with Goldie Hawn who shows much more personality than what the role of Kay calls for. This seems to be so true that at times, it looks like she’s trying to suppress it to keep things grounded. It’s less about Goldie and more about this housewife character of Kay. Now, I’m not asking for Hawn’s go-to fun-loving persona because the role doesn’t call for it, I’m just saying she dives a little too deep into the 1940s housewife character that we miss out on what makes Hawn so fun to watch. When we see humorous scenes like the one in which she tries to slyly convince Hazel to go with her to the jamboree, you can see her awkward humor spurt out, and you start to see what’s missing in terms of entertainment value. Even so, she does a good job in the role as being the devoted and loving wife to her husband Jack. Kay is lost once he leaves and feels as if she doesn’t have a purpose without him being there to take care of. She’s inspired by the war effort and like many women during the time period (a time period brought to life very well I might add), she starts working in the factory to do her part as an American citizen, having the (*gasps*) audacity to work instead of staying at home by herself. It’s cool to see how much she changes from being a helpless housewife in the opening to becoming a strong woman inside and out due to her own hard work and the events that transpire when Jack is gone.

Of course, when you work long hours, you have an exhausting profession, and you don’t see your spouse for extended periods of time, thoughts of cheating do come into your head. Those who are reading may disagree out loud, but they secretly know I’m right. I’m not saying everyone acts on it, but they do think about it.

When you work with the same people all the time, these thoughts come into your head whether you want them to or not. It’s the nature of the beast. I’ve seen it in every workplace I’ve been in, and I’m sure many can attest to it. Now, imagine you’re working in a co-ed factory with tough guy factory workers and innocent housewives who need help? Yeah, sparks are bound to fly. To Kay’s credit, she denies Lucky for half a year, but the man is persistent. She can’t turn down the Kurt Russell charm for too long, and we know it. He’s too likable, too good-looking, and genuinely nice to her. She hasn’t seen her husband or heard a compliment from him in a long time, so when she does hear something from someone as charming as Lucky, she can’t help but appreciate it. When this happens repeatedly for an extended period of time, it’s inevitable Kay will meet him at least once to shut him up. However, the fact that she agrees to hang out with Lucky and because we see her ask Hazel to come with, so she doesn’t do anything stupid, means she’s considering cheating and hates herself for it.

Take notes gentlemen, persistence is key.

The build up to when things finally happen is exciting, and you do find yourself wanting Kay to give into her urges, despite it being the wrong thing to do on all accounts. What does that make us? Are we all bad people for wanting it to happen just because Kurt Russell is a better option for her than Ed Harris? It’s hard to say because even though it’s pretty weird that Jack just up and decides to join the Navy after Pearl Harbor, he has done nothing to deserve what he got. Actually, Pearl Harbor inspired many men during that time period to enlist. This is how things were back then. This is the only “bad” thing Jack does in the movie, but it’s still considered to be honorable. So, tell me why it’s still so exciting and joyous to see Kay cheat on him with Lucky? Is it because she works hard and deserves to enjoy her life like Lucky says? This can’t be it. The only excuse I can come up with is that Lucky is too cool.

He’s kind of a dick for flirting with her so much knowing she has a husband though.

With all this being said, the happiest part of the movie is the three-person friend group/love triangle that develops between Kay, Hazel, and Lucky. Kay looks to be having the best time of her life. She’s working hard, playing hard, and has made two friendships that she never would’ve gotten if Jack hadn’t of left. It starts to make you feel bad because you know how great Kay’s life would’ve been had this happen years before her marriage to Jack. Sadly, timing is everything. When Jack comes back for a surprise visit, you want to turn off the film and shut your eyes. The anxiety-riddled feelings stemming from this scene are unbelievable. It happens with any movie regarding cheating, but it felt especially different in Swing Shift because we’re dealing with a veteran who is just hoping to see his wife on a two-day leave. Man, you could cut the tension in that room with a knife. You feel even worse because what precedes this is the happiest time of Kay’s life. Now, it’s leading to the worst moment in her life. Following this scene, I feel like the movie doesn’t regain the momentum of the buildup. Jack leaves things open-ended and none of the characters seem to know what to do after this and start acting out. The stress is getting to them because of the circumstances, but it just felt like everything spiraled out of control for twenty minutes. Then, the movie ends with everyone deciding to move on from this period of their lives.

It’s very odd and by the end, I don’t agree with any of the characters’ decisions. The wrong relationships are salvaged, and solutions are made up but aren’t written well enough to feel genuine. Everyone goes about things the wrong way, but they all just decide to forget about it. This is what the finale boils down to, so you’re left with an incredibly unsatisfied feeling. It’s just like the video the factory people show the women after they’re all fired when the war ends:

“Your lives will return to normal”.

Yeah, that’s not the conclusion this movie needed. Too many life-changing things happened for all of these people to just act cool.

Everyone raved about Christine Lahti’s role as Hazel, but I thought it was decent, nothing more. Her character was cool because it helped Kay’s development as a person, but I didn’t think for a second that her performance knocked my socks off or anything. Not sure as to why she was nominated for an Oscar. Then again, there have been rumors that over director Jonathan Demme’s objections, there were additional scenes shot to emphasize the love triangle story and because apparently Lahti was “upstaging” Hawn in her own movie. I don’t doubt this, especially when you watch the final ten seconds of the movie. This is where they close up on Kay and then Hazel as they hug. However, once Hazel responds, they freeze frame right back on Kay’s face once the credits roll. It didn’t fit at all, but without it, the last moment would’ve belonged to Hazel in the eyes of the audience. What I’m trying to say is that Goldie changing the movie to put more emphasis on herself doesn’t sound entirely unbelievable when you get a finish like that. Nevertheless, the love triangle was the only reason the movie had any entertainment value, and Hawn was the only reason I tuned into this romance drama. Whether Hawn’s ego problems are true or not, I don’t care because the third act would’ve been the same no matter what and it was still the worst part of the movie. Once it all happens, you sit there and go, “Really? Alright.”.

Does that sound like a satisfied viewer? I would think not.

Hazel’s subplot involving Biscuits held zero interest from me. It also didn’t help that Fred Ward seemed to be acting like he was in a stage play rather than a movie. When he joined the military, it felt like it was for all the wrong reasons as well. Based off of what we learned from the character, there’s no way this was his true calling, and I damn sure didn’t feel like he loved Hazel enough to do it. Also, why the hell was Lucky so pissy about Kay getting a promotion to leadman when she saved Violet’s life? He made it sound like he was doing the job to pass time because his whole thing is being a musician but when she gets a promotion, he gets mad? What’s even weirder is that it’s never addressed further. Even when he’s obviously disturbed about the whole thing, he asks if they’re still going out later and she agrees. Next, we cut to them making out in her house. So, what the hell was the point of all that?

SPOILERS

SPOILERS

SPOILERS

Going along with how I hated all of the characters’ decision-making skills, are we supposed to just be okay with Lucky having sex with Hazel to get revenge on Kay getting back with her husband? Again, everyone is wrong in this situation from the beginning! Everyone is just acting on a whim, and no one comes to a satisfying conclusion or reasonable conversation to talk things out. Shit happens, everyone’s mad, and certain people take the “L” and move on. Lucky gets screwed and moves, and you feel bad because this felt like love. Hazel forgives the random mood swings of Biscuits just because he joined the military, and we’re supposed to forgive Kay for everything she’s done just because she’s a crier.

In real life, if you cheat on your husband who went to fight overseas, you are the WORST type of person. I can’t just forget about this, especially with how things turned out. What about Jack too? Yes, technically he beat Lucky, but Lucky still hit, so did Jack really win, or did he just pick up the scraps of his marriage and salvage it, and we’re just happy to see it be saved because we like Goldie Hawn? It seems like the latter. Honestly, it’s as if they wanted to make Kay’s and Jack’s relationship work just because it would be too inconvenient not to. Following this entire mess, Kay and Hazel reunite and hug. Kay then says, “We showed them, didn’t we?”. My actual response watching was, “I guess?”.

Does this tell you enough? Swing Shift had its moments and you do get invested in these characters and their lives, but the movie never recovers after she’s caught. After the solid buildup and the romantic angles working, it slowly unravels into a letdown.