Made In Dagenham Review

Calendar Girls director Nigel Cole returns to comfortable ground after so-so Hollywood outings A Lot Like Love and $5 A Day with this true story of ordinary people wrestling with extraordinary circumstances, this time the injustice of women’s pay during late-’60s Britain. Cole has assembled a superior cast (including Happy-Go-Lucky’s Sally Hawkins), while Billy Ivory’s screenplay offers comfortable archetypes (feisty factory girl; gruff but decent boss; ice queen with good heart et al) which they skilfully fill. As with Calendar Girls there’s a cosy, soapy feel, as relationships falter and loyalties conflict, which while not a bad thing suggests Sunday teatime fiction rather than social document. It’s a shame the political theme feels so secondary, with end-credits interviews with the real-life campaigners stoking more interest in the fight than the film itself.