Swing Shift

Play trailer

Swing Shift

PG

1984

1h 40m

Comedy

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

87%

Tomatometer

15 Reviews

41%

Popcornmeter

2,500+ Ratings

During World War II, a navy wife helps the war effort by taking a job in the local aircraft factory, where she meets a man declared unfit for military service who sweeps her off her feet. When her husband returns on a furlough, things begin to get very complicated. The film includes cameos from singer Belinda Carlisle and cult director Roger Corman.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Stream Now

David Denby

New York Magazine/Vulture

12/31/2019

Swing Shift isn't boring, but nothing in it startles, nothing explodes.

Go to Full Review

Empire Magazine

01/03/2012

4/5

At its heart lies a sweet romance, with good performances from both the leads and an Oscar nomination for supporting actress Lahti.

Go to Full Review

Variety Staff

Variety

07/24/2008

Swing Shift tries ... to twist some consequence out of a tawdry adulterous tryst by a couple of self-centered sneaks. But the writing and acting are too flat for the challenge.

Go to Full Review

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

12/03/2019

3/4

...an erratic yet mostly watchable period piece that could've been much better.

Go to Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

02/28/2016

B-

The conventional period romantic drama has good details of the period and some fine dramatic moments, that at least kept it from being a bomb.

Go to Full Review

TV Guide

01/03/2012

3.5/5

Demme's characteristic generosity toward his characters and refusal to make absolute moral judgments are strong points, while the feminist subtext adds freshness to the story.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

JME G

@jmes2baby Mar 6

Loved this movie since I first saw it in the early 1980's. Brought a sense of history & curious thought about what was happening in that time era but enjoyed the movie of course!!

See more

Dan F

@Dan_Frazier Oct 4

The story is a bit of a muddle. The movie is focused on the lives of women factory workers on the homefront during WWII, and touches on the experience of marital infidelity. It felt a little confused and a little superficial to me. I was mainly interested in Holly Hunter, but she is only onscreen for two or three minutes, which was disappointing.

See more

CodyZamboni Z

@CodyZamboni Apr 21

Charismatic leads, Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, and Christine Lahti are the main attraction. Film works best when it focuses on the WW2 plane factory, The ending falls apart with needless silly soap opera hijinks. Movie features lots of director Demme's regular troop of actors.

See more

Joel H

@RT47793553 01/16/2024

I expected Swing Shift to be a fun romantic comedy. However, it wasn't that fun. This movie takes itself way too seriously. It also wasn't romantic. I had a difficult time rooting for Kay Walsh (Goldie Hawn) and Lucky Lockhart (Kurt Russell) to be together, because Kay was married to Jack (Ed Harris) and he wasn't a horrible, abusive jerk. In fact, he kind of seemed like a decent guy. I did think Christine Lahti did a good job in her performance, though. And finally, this wasn't a comedy. It's a melodrama, and not a very good one. So you could say that Swing Shift let me down in almost every aspect.

See more

uncle p

@RT30466687 08/10/2020

Story/Screenplay: (3/5) This story moved with purpose, but it wasn't memorable and it felt a bit bland. Not a bad story, but not good either. Just average. Duration/Tempo: (3/5) At 1 hour and 40 minutes, it's a shorter than average movie that felt average in length. Cast & Crew: (3.5/5) Performances from Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Fred Ward, and Ed Harris were all good. Summary: (3/5) The cast was nice, but the story was unexceptional and the film felt longer than it actually was. A thumbs down.

See more

steve d

@RT35616104 07/13/2020

It ends up not amounting to a lot.

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

POST RATING

Jonathan Demme

Director

Goldie Hawn

Kay Walsh

Kurt Russell

Mike `'Lucky'` Lockhart

Christine Lahti

Hazel

Fred Ward

Actor

Holly Hunter

Actor

The Purple Rose of Cairo

93%

88%

The Purple Rose of Cairo

Watchlist

Educating Rita

81%

81%

Educating Rita

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Educating Rita

Nothing in Common

58%

40%

Nothing in Common

Watchlist

Terms of Endearment

81%

83%

Terms of Endearment

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Terms of Endearment

The King of Comedy

89%

90%

The King of Comedy

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

During World War II, a navy wife helps the war effort by taking a job in the local aircraft factory, where she meets a man declared unfit for military service who sweeps her off her feet. When her husband returns on a furlough, things begin to get very complicated. The film includes cameos from singer Belinda Carlisle and cult director Roger Corman.

Director: Jonathan Demme
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: Warner Bros. Pictures, Hawn/Sylbert Movie Company, Lantana
Rating: PG
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 13, 1984, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2008
Runtime: 1h 40m

Most Popular at Home Now