RRReview #6: Made in Dagenham

I'm baaack. It only took me a week to get far enough out of my Grey's Anatomy musical episode coma to come back to film reviews. For the record: the episode was fan-freaking-tastic and I have watched it 12 times already (yes, I have an obsessive nature). Anyway, the next episode doesn't air until April 28th so I guess it's back to films for now.

Last weekend, I watched a couple of films. First was a repeat viewing of 127 Hours...and I loved it just as much as the first time. Still haven't seen it? Check out my review of that here.

Then, my best buddy and I cued up Made in Dagenham, a great little British film that I had heard great things about. Here's my take on it.

Made in Dagenham
Starring: 
Sally Hawkins, Bob Hoskins, Miranda Richardson, Rosamund Pike and a whole host of other awesome Brits

Directed by: 
Nigel Cole (other films include Saving Grace and Calendar Girls)

On DVD or in theatres? On DVD and Blu-ray

Spoilers? Not many.


Well, finally! After seeing a bunch of bad movies lately...I get to see a good, satisfying one. Added to this, it is British and I loves me a good British flick.

The film stars the formidable Sally Hawkins. As always she is completely and utterly compelling here. Seriously, if you have not seen her in Happy-Go-Lucky get thee to a DVD copy of it NOW.


The story is based on real-life events and stars Hawkins as mild-mannered Rita O'Grady, the woman who almost single-handedly kickstarted the women's equal pay rights movement in late '60s England. O'Grady and 187 other women at the time worked for the Ford auto factory in Dagenham, England. Not only did they work in deplorable conditions, but they were severely underpaid in comparison to the men who worked for the factory (including her husband).

This film follows their story; of how these 187 hardworking women worked to change the system at a time when women working, let alone getting paid, was still seen by many as unnecessary.

Now, the film is a tad formulaic. There is nothing new or incredibly adventurous about the way it is shot or edited. But I don't think that was the goal of the filmmakers here anyway.

We basically get to see the beginnings of the movement as the women fight first to go on strike for a day (which had never really been done at the time), and then as they take their fight further when the chauvinistic big-wigs at Ford don't take them seriously.


Bob Hoskins, while pretty good here, will unfortunately always be this guy to me:

Yes, it's Smee from "Hook". Haha.

He plays Albert Passingham, a representative of Ford, and the one man who seems to actually understand why women deserve to get paid the same as men. Other performances of note are Daniel Mays as Rita's supportive but confused husband, and the always lovely Miranda Richardson as British Minister Barbara Castle who helps the ladies with their cause. Also of note, actress Rosamund Pike who I have seen in a few other British films. Not only is she wowza gorgeous, but she plays the role of housewife-intellectual-turned-crusader very believably.

The lovely Rosamund Pike in "Made in Dagenham".

Aside from all of this though, the movie is worth seeing if solely for the performance of Sally Hawkins. I find that she has a very enigmatic quality about her in every role she plays. In this film, she somehow manages to carry off the complexities and fierceness of this character while still having her come across as a sweet and very loving mom who ultimately just wants life to be fair. There is a scene towards the end of the film when she makes an impassioned speech to a room full of union men, and it is so good I dare you not to think she is adorable.

The film rarely falls flat, but there are two side-stories that, while I understand their inclusion, did not really get to me emotionally as much as I'm sure was intended. One is of Rita's co-worker, a girl who longs to be famous and lets that naivety almost take her down the wrong path. The other is of Rita's picketing partner in crime Connie (played by Geraldine James), who is dealing with a husband with PTSD due to being a soldier in WWII. Both of these storylines exist to serve the purpose of explaining what women had to deal with in the late '60s, but for me they don't really work.


Ultimately this is not the type of film you go on about at length. It's really just a sweet, funny little film, and a great lesson in appreciation for Western women of the millennium generation  (like myself) who really do take their gender equality for granted most of the time. I recommend this if you're in for a good British film, with all the biting wit and fun references you'd expect.


Have you seen, or even heard of Made in Dagenham? Is it something that interests you? Have you seen anything else really good recently that you might like me to review? Hit me in the comments :)