| B+ Directed by Matthew Warkus Starring Ben Schnetzer, George MacKay, and Imelda Staunton Review by Jon Kissel |  |
Pride smooshes two social justice causes into its narrative, like if Norma Rae was fighting for unionization and the equal rights amendment at the same time. In this true story of homosexual London activists descending into Wales at the height of the Thatcher coal strikes, there's uplift to spare. Matthew Warchus' film flirts with corniness, but is so earnest and crammed with heartwarming subplots that it wins over the viewer as surely as the gays and lesbians win over the Welsh miners.
The events of the film are dictated by history and aren't where the drama comes from in Pride. Both parties are packed with memorable characters, some more successful than others. The Welsh side is a Harry Potter-esque feast for middle-aged British actors. Bill Nighy plays an elder statesman of the small town at the focus, given to waxing poetic about the 'dark artery' of coal that has enriched Wales for centuries. Paddy Considine does dignified work as a union leader who first gets in contact with the London group, and previously-unknown Jessica Gunning is a surprise delight as a housewife finding her political voice. Imelda Staunton walks away with the film as a counterpart to Nighy's character, another pillar of the community four-square behind whatever help the town can get. She evokes raucous laughter or heartfelt emotion or both every time she's onscreen, a person capable of appealing to decency in one breath and making a killer dildo joke in the next.
On the London side, writer Stephen Beresford is utilizing every gay archetype that's ever been depicted on film. Ben Schnetzer plays the fiery leader of the group, consumed with what the next move is in every moment. Dominic West and Andrew Scott play the couple whose bookstore the group (Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners, or LGSM) operates out of. West is an occasionally difficult out-and-proud stalwart who never met a homophobe he couldn't make uncomfortable, while Scott seems his opposite, a dour Welshman emigre still consumed with being rejected for his orientation many years earlier. The closest thing to a lead Pride has is the most standard plot of all, a teenager struggling to come out of the closet to his casually hateful family. This character, portrayed by George MacKay, never really pops out of the screen like most of the Welsh characters or West and Scott do, perhaps because while the casual homophobia and pressure to be straight is undoubtedly real, Beresford, Warchus, and MacKay don't really do anything novel with it. In a 2-hour film with this many threads to service, plus the overarching fundraising/acceptance battle being fought, some things are going to be left at the wayside, and MacKay's plot is the main victim.
Within the class and sexuality issues are also inserted a gender dynamic, as if Pride didn't have enough going on. One of the few L's in the LGSM, Faye Marsay's character is constantly agitating for women's own space within the group, something that baffles the G's. The Welsh women are intrigued by the few lesbians in the LGSM, coming at them with questions that shift a sexual worldview which formerly viewed pleasure as solely men's province. All the LGSM members are inspired in turn by the strength of the Welsh women, who've taken on the burden of organizing and sustaining their families on less and less while their husbands and sons head to the picket lines. The strike itself is depicted as a woman's battle, though it's the men who have seen their wages slashed. They are the ones that give the men the fortitude to press on, despite their emasculation at being out of work and no longer providers. A mid-film show-stopper of a scene delineates exactly that, as the women break out into a beautiful union anthem that brands them as the guardians of community and family, counter to the woman at the head of the government that is literally starving them out. It's this dynamic that feels the most interesting, though it's slightly further down the list of Pride's priorities.
Pride leaves the viewer with plenty to grab onto in the way an ensemble TV show does; if you don't like one particular thread, wait a few minutes and one you like will take its place. Warchus captures several scenes and performances absolutely worth the wait. Some pruning of its many storylines would've helped, but the overall package is a true, rousing crowd-pleaser. B+
On the London side, writer Stephen Beresford is utilizing every gay archetype that's ever been depicted on film. Ben Schnetzer plays the fiery leader of the group, consumed with what the next move is in every moment. Dominic West and Andrew Scott play the couple whose bookstore the group (Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners, or LGSM) operates out of. West is an occasionally difficult out-and-proud stalwart who never met a homophobe he couldn't make uncomfortable, while Scott seems his opposite, a dour Welshman emigre still consumed with being rejected for his orientation many years earlier. The closest thing to a lead Pride has is the most standard plot of all, a teenager struggling to come out of the closet to his casually hateful family. This character, portrayed by George MacKay, never really pops out of the screen like most of the Welsh characters or West and Scott do, perhaps because while the casual homophobia and pressure to be straight is undoubtedly real, Beresford, Warchus, and MacKay don't really do anything novel with it. In a 2-hour film with this many threads to service, plus the overarching fundraising/acceptance battle being fought, some things are going to be left at the wayside, and MacKay's plot is the main victim.
Within the class and sexuality issues are also inserted a gender dynamic, as if Pride didn't have enough going on. One of the few L's in the LGSM, Faye Marsay's character is constantly agitating for women's own space within the group, something that baffles the G's. The Welsh women are intrigued by the few lesbians in the LGSM, coming at them with questions that shift a sexual worldview which formerly viewed pleasure as solely men's province. All the LGSM members are inspired in turn by the strength of the Welsh women, who've taken on the burden of organizing and sustaining their families on less and less while their husbands and sons head to the picket lines. The strike itself is depicted as a woman's battle, though it's the men who have seen their wages slashed. They are the ones that give the men the fortitude to press on, despite their emasculation at being out of work and no longer providers. A mid-film show-stopper of a scene delineates exactly that, as the women break out into a beautiful union anthem that brands them as the guardians of community and family, counter to the woman at the head of the government that is literally starving them out. It's this dynamic that feels the most interesting, though it's slightly further down the list of Pride's priorities.
Pride leaves the viewer with plenty to grab onto in the way an ensemble TV show does; if you don't like one particular thread, wait a few minutes and one you like will take its place. Warchus captures several scenes and performances absolutely worth the wait. Some pruning of its many storylines would've helped, but the overall package is a true, rousing crowd-pleaser. B+
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