MADE IN DAGENHAM

Pepe's View:

I loved Sally Hawkins in "Happy Go Lucky" so when I saw she was the lead of a true story I couldn't wait to see the movie.  The trouble is, the movie is not a true account of the historical events.  Yes, women at the Ford factory in Dagenham took industrial action to get equal pay and yes, they triumphed over a multinational company but that pretty much is where the true story and the movie part company.
There was no real life Rita O'Grady (played wonderfully by Sally Hawkins) and  no attractive posy of women who worked with her.  Nigel Cole and the scriptwriters took a great deal of liberties with the events and I found it very disappointing that this was so.  I wanted there to be a Rita O'Grady leading the women against the bosses! 
Having said that, the movie was very entertaining, totally believable and an amazing lesson of what women can do against a "man's" world especially as it was set in 1968.
I loved the "little side plots".  The male union bosses encouraging the women to take action on the one hand and in bed with the management on the other, the friction between husband and wives as women dared to cause hardship to their families and the effect on the women themselves as they doubted their cause.
Bob Hoskings (the token male?) was as always superb as the union delegate effectively sitting on the fence while agitating behind the scenes for the women to take action and for Rita O'Grady to be their leader.
I enjoyed the revealing scenes when the leaders of the strike met with Barbara Castle (minister in the UK Gov't) played by Miranda Richardson  - women talking to women (the first time this had happened in the movie) - which showed the toughness and sincerity of women as opposed to the false allegiances as indicated by the male negotiations.
A very enjoyable movie but one that would have been even more powerful if the script had kept to the historical facts.

My Score:  8/10

Ma's View:

How disappointing to find out that the details of the story are a fabrication!  At least it is true that the women made gains for their sex in a male-dominated, American owned factory, striking one of the first blows for "equal pay for equal work", a battle which goes on to this day.

Sally Hawkins played the lead role very well although her acting style is becoming a little predictable now.    This seems picky but I do wish the hair-dressers were not quite so bent on showing us their talents!  In every scene we had every girl with immaculate 60's hair styles, curled, teased and perfectly in place - no busy mother of 2 has time to go to quite that much  trouble to work in a car factory!  Yes on a Friday night when they go out on the town but not every day at the factory.

Nevertheless, a good movie!

My score:  7.5/10