Review of Made in Dagenham (2010) by Mark J — 05 Oct 2010

The subject matter of this film almost puts it beyond reach of criticism. It's about women striking for the fairly reasonable demand of equal pay, which seems rather quaint in 2010, but was a sad reality for many women in 1968. Men could often get paid up to twice the amount of women for doing exactly the same job.

While women going on strike might not seem like ideal material for box office success, Made in Dagenham succeeds brilliantly as a proper grown up feelgood movie. While there is a serious message to this film, it delivers its payload with bags of warmth and a good sense of humour reminiscent of such British offerings as The Full Monty and Calendar Girls (which Cole also directed).

Some of the characters do seem a tad too fictional to have any root in reality; Hoskins is great, but too good to be true. However, the central role of Rita - the humble working mum who has greatness thrust upon her - is handled very well by a credible Sally Hawkins (and a lot less grating than her performance as Poppy in Happy-Go-Lucky). But the stand out performance has to be Miranda Richardson as Barbara Castle, as she offers sympathy for the striking women before taking on her bumbling civil servants & the bullying Ford motor company. There are some nice touches in this film, especially the way in which class divisions are brought out with subtlety and humour, and plenty to stir the emotions. This is the kind of film that doesn't get made often enough. Well worth a viewing.