Made In Dagenham

I feel a short but positive review coming on. Because really, this film can be summed up via this equation:

( Brassed Off + Calendar Girls)/2 = Made In Dagenham.

On the face of it then, I could give you an average score of those two movies, and knock off early.

Like Calendar Girls, we have a group of women who attempt to do something small, and in fighting the opposition they face, the small thing grows to be a much larger and important thing. In this case, the 187 sewing machine operators who assemble the seat covers and trims at Ford's Dagenham plant stage a 24 hour walkout because they're classed (and paid) as unskilled workers, whereas they feel they should be classed semi-skilled. Ford's management attempt to fob them off with a "well, you've brought this to our attention, we'll look at it in a few months, now off you go back to work." This leads them to widen the issue to equal pay for women, and widen the scope of the strike nationally.

This is the bit where it all goes a bit Brassed Off, as the strike soon brings Ford to a standstill in the UK, as without seat covers, they can't make cars. This forces the men working at Ford into a potential redundancy situation, and tensions begin to flare, as we see both the camaraderie and misery of those forced out of work. The mores of the time come to the fore, as it becomes clear that Ford as a company see no reason why they should offer equal pay, and the male dominated unions don't see it as an issue worth fighting, seeing women's wages as "a bit extra" and the main male breadwinners being the ones worth fighting for.

Unfortunately, the film suffers from being structured like an identikit "cause" movie. One character, for instance, bows out of the fight midway through the movie because the personal cost is too high. Will they be back for the final battle? I won't tell you, but only because I don't have to. Will the stuffy establishment be stirred by an impassioned speech by a neophyte to the world of labour relations, who reminds them what they've been fighting for all along? The battle causes stresses in the lead character's relationship. Will there be a reconciliation after the partner realises what a fool they've been, and makes a heroic journey to turn up and declare their support at the all-important speech? We've seen these scenes before, and we know how they all play out. And unfortunately, Made In Dagenham doesn't defy convention at all.

I understand the filmmakers intend this film to be something every young girl should see, and I agree with that. If only because there's an outside chance that they won't be achingly familiar with the film's well worn twists and turns that feel so familiar to cinematic old lags like myself. Because there's a great film here, that's really well done and really well performed by the main cast. Sally Hawkins is great as the plucky young protagonist, and she's ably supported by the likes of Bob Hoskins, Miranda Richardson, Geraldine James, and a whole host of other faces from the British acting and comedy community. In isolation, this is a really good film, but when you place it within its genre, it doesn't really manage to distinguish itself, the genre being full of really very good films.