Pride **** (2014, Bill Nighy, Andrew Scott, Imelda Staunton, Dominic West, Paddy Considine, George MacKay) – Movie Review

Pride is a sweet, funny and vital film, successfully making a popular comedy drama entertainment out of a deadly serious subject as British gay activists work to help the miners during their lengthy strike in the summer of 1984. The good-natured movie wears its heart on its sleeve, but still makes sure it hits its targets hard – prejudice, ignorance and Baroness Thatcher.

Led by Bill Nighy, Andrew Scott, Imelda Staunton, Dominic West, Paddy Considine, George MacKay, the warm and welcome cast go to it with talent, will and determination all fully engaged. The good guys are lined up against the forces of darkness. Let battle commence.

MacKay plays ‘Bromley’, aka Joe, a nice 20-year old under-age closet gay, who lives a downtrodden suburban lower-middle-class life with his unsuspecting parents in Bromley, while up town at the Gays the Word bookshop supporting the London-based Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners action group, led by the sharp Mark Ashton (Ben Schnetzer). At first, the homophobic Welsh miners want nothing to do with the gays or their money, but things are about to change.

Heartless right-wing politics and the people’s strike for survival and jobs are all-important subjects, but they take a back seat here to screen-writer Stephen Beresford’s generally penetrating look at a different all-important subject, the shocking prejudice and danger bravely faced by the gay and lesbian community in the UK 30 years ago.

MacKay makes an excellent young hero to identify with. All the actors give of their absolute best: Staunton is hilarious, Nighy surprisingly effective playing low-key, West is appealing as the flamboyant Jonathan, Considine is ideal as the decent, earnest miners’ envoy and Schnetzer exactly hits the mark.

Maybe it still could have had more subtlety and edge, and the Welsh accents are terrible, about on a par with Cate Blanchett’s Scottish in Dragon 2, but the film is still a lovely 100 per cent feel-good crowd-pleaser that does full justice to its subject.

© Derek Winnert 2014 Movie Review

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