Review of Pride (2014) by Tiago M — 30 Jan 2015

A custom-made crowd pleaser brimming with good intentions, this Pride-ful presentation of oftentimes harrowing real events nonetheless ends up to be moving, earnest, and oftentimes fun in all the right places even when you feel your strings being pulled. An unlikely true story of an unlikely alliance that's unlikely well done, Pride tells the plight of both striking Welsh miners and the hugely persecuted English homosexual community in equal and genuine measure. A heat-seeking crowd-pleaser, the film comes damn close to becoming mawkish without actually tipping over the edge. The climax, for example, assumes a tone that almost feels a bit too cheeky.almost. Regardless, the dynamite performances and rich storytelling always come across as truthful throughout this production, however manufactured it feels. You've hear of designer drugs, eh? Here is a designer feel-good flick and it likewise plays with your body's chemical makeup to make you feel good.

In this R-rated dramedy available on DVD and download, U.K. gay activists work to help miners during their lengthy strike of the National Union of Mineworkers in the summer of 1984.

Boasting a theater CV that includes Ghost: The Musical, Matthew Warchus deftly directs the goings-on with a nimble footed swagger, literally making your toes tap. For a non-musical, this is an impressive feat. For Pride, however, it also proves appropriate. Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton, Dominic West, Paddy Considine, and Andrew Scott (the wicked wicked Moriarity to Benedict Cumberbatch's wily Sherlock on the BBC) play beaten-down and sometimes tragic figures, but they bring a resolve and vigor to their characters that you never feel sorry for them--just, well, proud. Their performances and the direction get you on your feet in solidarity, yes, but a good deal of credit also goes to the screenwriter. Stephen Beresford's script effortlessly hopscotches from bleak to hilarious moments and back again in a manner that somehow remains reverential to both.

Bottom line: Heart O' Miner.