A by-the-numbers tale of working-class backbone for an age with little respect for labor unions, "Made in Dagenham" can't match its heroine's spitfire advocacy for common-sense workplace rights. Appallingly, you can nearly read it as an anti-union film.
The picture is diverting thanks to a cast headlined by Sally Hawkins, making the most of a far more prosaic role than the one she played in "Happy-Go-Lucky." Hawkins' balance of nerve and nervousness, and her stinginess in serving up the indignation that social justice movies usually shovel onto the fire with abandon, set the tone for fine performances by co-stars playing more generic characters.
Hawkins is Rita O'Grady, one of a few hundred women working among 55,000 or so male employees in British Ford plants in 1968. The women's work — stitching leather pieces into seat upholstery — is segregated, which is fine with Rita's chums, as it allows them to cope with factory heat by stripping to their bras.
The women are separate from the men, but not equal. Ford execs have recently decided to reclassify upholstery work as "unskilled" labor, making official the insult these women have always endured silently: They are paid far less than men doing work requiring similar levels of skill.
Strangely, "Dagenham" begins after the women (covertly encouraged by their union rep, Bob Hoskins) have threatened bosses with a strike. Why screenwriter William Ivory chooses to skip this dramatic moment is a mystery, but the omission — and the way the threatened strike plays out — demonstrates an ugly skittishness about the way unions achieve their goals, preferring to make the story about one singularly determined woman. It's as if Ivory and director Nigel Cole are among those who believe that the corruption and cowardice marring union history define unions and outweigh the gains they've made in protecting powerless individuals from employers.
Whatever its underlying ideology, the movie manages to find a bit of humor — as Rita tweaks the noses of men in suits, as other seamstresses find sexier ways to help the cause — and dramatic conflict as well. The plant's male employees, who despite being part of the same union have not chosen to strike alongside their co-workers, are resentful and scared when the absence of newly sewn car seats means their own work must eventually come to a halt.
"Dagenham" doesn't seem to care much about the bigger issue that attitude raises, preferring to focus on domestic dramas involving a handful of personalities. That's fine for viewers who just want another chance to watch the remarkable Hawkins at work, but it's disappointing for those who like a bit more substance with their spunky attitude.
"Made in Dagenham"
Our grade: B-
Genre: Drama
Running Time: 113 min
MPAA rating: R
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