1.5 Stars
You’ve heard of torture porn, poverty porn and librarian porn. But here’s the most unlikely porn of them all: union porn.
In most ways, “Made in Dagenham” is a crying shame. Women have fought a long, hard time for equality and they don’t need anyone making movies recounting that history as a laughing stock “vintage girl power” tale. That’s how the Chelsea describes this flick, and by “vintage” they seem to mean stereotype-laden, derivative and lacking in genuine moral conflict. And based on a true story, of course.
In this almost-history, it’s 1968 and the women machinists of the Ford plant in the Dagenham suburb of London, England, are going on strike to achieve the noble goal of equal pay with men for their equal work. The problem is, their counterparts in the men’s labor unions are sandbagging those efforts in order to protect themselves.
So the women kick the man habit, picket outside the factory in sunny southern England and win a merry audience with the Labour government while they’re at it.
But then reality bites: turns out England isn’t such a sunny place after all. Director Nigel Cole at least shows us this inclement fact, preserving some rainy hint of geographical realism. When it comes to the falsely sparkling teeth of his actors, there’s no such luck. (As if they had quality dental care in England, ever. We Americans know better.)
If “Dagenham” has a saving grace then it isn’t Sally Hawkins, who plays the always put-upon strike leader Rita O’Grady, but rather the inimitable, sometimes indecipherable Bob Hoskins, a man so Cockney that his very voice should be elected to the House of Commons as a distinguished Labour MP.
As Albert, the one union man behind these women from the get-go, Hoskins lends the film some much needed credibility, otherwise lacking amid countless shouts of “blimey!” and rousing speeches full of essayistic resolve to “do what’s right.” Hoskins alone proves to be eloquent in his simplicity; the wider movie’s take on union struggles does not.
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