Review of Made in Dagenham (2010) by Larry Q — 31 Dec 2010

An excellent film focused on women at a Ford manufacturing plant outside London in the late '60's and their quest for first fair, then equal pay.

The story is very well told and all the factory women do wonderful jobs portraying the travails of their situation. Sally Hawkins portrays wonderfully the woman who, somewhat reluctantly became the leader of the women and Bob Hoskins is perfect as the mid level union functionary subtly driving the process.

Richard Schiff is wonderful as the evil face of Ford sent to London to quell the strike and Rosamund Pike does a brilliant turn as the long suffering wife of the plant manager who supports and nudges the process along in the union direction.

Miranda Richardson, normally a star in films like this, has a terrible script to work with; as do her two bumbling staff members. The semi-comical performances of these three are at odds with the rest of the film. This unfortunate scripting keeps the film from a four star rating.

Still, a film well worth seeing; especially later in the film as personal relationships, and changes to them as a result of the strike, are delved into.