Thighs Wide Shut

Made In Dagenham
Sew, You Think You Can Dance With The Big Boys?
Official Website | Trailers & Mo

You remember all that hullabaloo about England’s Ford sewing machinists strike of 1968, right?  You don’t???? Well neither did we!!  And now everything has become illuminated thanks to director Nigel Cole and writer William Ivory‘s vibrant, yet basically banal cinematic take on the event and ensuing events in Made In Dagenham!  The key word hidden in the title is ‘ham’, as in this thing is as hammy as a ham radio ham sangwich being eaten by Mama Cass on her death bed!!!!  But lettuce not focus on the ham AND cheesiness of the movie, and instead pay attention to the message that stands tall above it all: at on point in time women weren’t on equal footing with the mens, especially in the workforce, and that just aint right.  No men were up in arms over this and for years and years nothing changed.  Well, if you want to something done, sometimes you gotta take matters into yer own hands, and that is precisely what a bunch of working class sewing dames at the Ford plant in Dagenham done did!  They coulda cared less about the question ‘have you driven a Ford lately?’ and were all about ‘what has Ford done for us lately?’.  You go girls, and boy, did they go!!!!

America has Norma Rae and Karen Silkwood, and they had their movies, and now Britain and Rita O’Grady gots theirs!  Sally Hawkins wears O’Grady’s high heels and carries her big stick, and she aint gonna take no for answer!  Not from her doubting hubby Daniel Mays, nor crusty ole union dude Kenneth Cranham, nor UK Ford dude Rupert Graves, norrr US Ford dude Richard Schiff, who had to trek all the way across the pond to try and quiet them down.  GOOD LUCK WITH TRYING TO SHUSH A WOMANS!!!!  Luckily, O’Grady/Hawkins wasn’t alone in her fight, with a posse of her feisty sewers in tow (including the very feisty, very sexy Jaime Winstone… see below), a helpful rep from within the company (best in smile Bob Hoskins!!), a UK Ford exec’s mod wife (Rosamund Pike), and a certain lady high up in the ranks of gov’mint (Miranda Richardson) all chipping in on the you go-go girly girlnessness!

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT????????  Well, you can probably guess what does cause a) women aren’t paid slave wages anymo, and b) they made a movie all about this shaz, and people like movies about winning and not losing!!!  If only this thang wasn’t so dang cheesy, and lost about 4 of its pointless sidetracked side stories!!!  Still, we were purty much gung ho for this female Gung Ho

Forever Winstoned: she punched us in the heart in the muss see guilty/dirty pleasure Donkey Punch, and she does it every dang time we see her lil saucy self get saucy-saucy-pants!!!  sadly, this hasn’t happened all that much, with such a small filmography, but 1nce bitten, wees 5ever smitten with Jaime ‘daughter of Ray’ Winstone!!!!!  qwik fact… Winstone used to date Alfie Allen, who’s sister is… Lily Allen!!!  That’s one ploughman’s lunch we’d like to plow thru and munch on!!!  and if not, we’d love to juss go bowling with them or something!!!

Verdictgo: low end Jeepers Worth A Peepers

Made is in the shade this Friday in NY & LA only, and elsewhere elsewhen

and until next thyme the balcony is clothed…