Social upheaval has rarely looked so congenial. Made in Dagenham chronicles the 1968 struggle of female Ford employees at a British factory to earn the same pay as their male counterparts, but it does so in a tidy, cute-Brit way that undersells what must have been a harsh, hard-fought victory. All the anger has been wrapped up in a tea cozy. Sally Hawkins stars as a woman who goes from mousy machinist to strike leader in the course of her first business meeting, while Bob Hoskins offers crinkly smiles as the manager who supports his women workers because he was raised by a working single mom. Most of the rest is period hairdos and hugs. From director Nigel Cole, who also made – of course – Calendar Girls.
