Review: Made in Dagenham

Seven years ago Nigel Cole made a film about a real life story starring a predominantly female cast of known British actresses, the film was called Calendar Girls and went onto be a massive hit even spawning its own West End show spin-off. Now Cole is back with another film based on a real-life story starring a predominantly female cast and that film is Made in Dagenham which concerns the year in which the women in the Ford Motors Factory in Dagenham went on strike and demanded equal pay. Like in Calendar Girls, Cole is interested on us getting to know the central female characters and at the film's heart is Sally Hawkins' Rita O'Grady, a family woman who is intially reluctant to stand-up for the women but as the film goes on she begins to find her own voice. There is also Geraldine James' Connie a more mature member of the workforce whose husband is suffering from post-traumatic stress after servingin World War 2. As the strike goes on things begin to get tougher especially for Rita as her husband also is forced out of work when the Ford motor plant shuts down. The Government and the Ford company both start to get involved, firstly Ford sends the tough Robert Tooley over to deal with the women and then trade minister Barbara Castle is ordered to sort the struggle out. Along the way there is a lot of tragedy but a lot of heartfelt moments as well as the women try to achieve what they set out to.

There is a debate to be made on whether Made in Dagenham is too broad and doesn't focuse enough on its topic. However I believe that if the subject had been adapted into a grittier picture then not as many people would've gone to see the film and that would've been a shame as there's a lot to like here. The central characters are all well drawn most notably Rita and Connie as well as Rita's husband Eddie, a man of simple pleasures who doesn't quite understand why his wife's doing what she's doing. Even the smaller characters get their moments for example Rosamund Pike's Lisa is a well educated woman who is married to the Ford plant boss and is therefore confined to the kitchen and isn't allowed to give her views on most topics. That's not to say that everybody gets a fair deal, Andrea Riseborough's Brenda only seems to exist in order to have sex with variuos menfolk and then laugh dirtly about it, and an actress of her standing deserves better. The performances are top-notch all around from Sally Hawkins as Rita down to Roger Lloyd Pack as Connie's husband special mention has to go to Richard Schiff as the long-in-the-tooth Tooley who thinks the women can be handled quite easily and steps in to show the British how its done.

Overall I think Cole has improved on Calendar Girls as there's a lot more meat in the tale of the Dagenham girls. He gets the tone between comedy and tragedy dead on here and there are a couple of moments where I generally teared up and also some bits where I couldn't stop laughing. It may be a little bit cheesy and a bit broad but Made in Dagenham is one of those films that just makes you feel-good and also is able to tell the tale of a very plucky group of women.