The story line in this film is based on actual events, and it has the advantage of 2-1/2 excellent performances. Sally Hawkins is excellent as the young female worker who leads the strike for equal pay at the Ford factory. Bob Hoskins is wonderful as the sympathetic union leader who manages to sabotage the union's efforts to quell the uprising. The extra one-half belongs to Miranda Richardson, the real-life Barbara Castle who got the women most (and eventually all) they wanted from the Labour government then in power. Richardson is superb but she has only a minor on-screen presence. The problem, as often in British-made movies, is the mix of accents which makes it difficult for viewers who are not British to understand what's being said. Unfortunately, some of the dialog is virtually unintelligible. Classically trained UK actors know how to make themselves understood to American audiences regardless of the regional accents they are called upon to adopt. Bob Hoskins has that capability. Many other British actors, although very good, aren't able to do that. (I'm sure some regional accents in American movies are equally difficult for non=American audiences). I might easily have given this movie a 10. It's well worth seeing but if you're like me, prepare to be frequently confused. The cable news networks sometimes use subtitles when people are speaking heavily-accented English. British film-makers might be well-advised to do the same.
Review of Made in Dagenham
