Pride
Director: Matthew Warchus
Writer: Stephen Beresford
Cast: Ben Schnetzer, George MacKay, Faye Marsay, Joseph Gilgun, Paddy Considine, Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton, Dominic West, Andrew Scott, Russell Tovey

Plot:
Mark (Ben Schnetzer) is not only gay, but a big supporter of the miner strike and wants to do his part, especially because he feels that there is a certain kinship – the miners struggle under Thatcher just as much as the homosexuals struggle. So he decides that he will start to raise funds for them, with the help of new to the scene Joe (George MacKay), big-mouthed Steph (Faye Marsay) and flamboyant Jonathan (Dominic West). But it turns out, it’s surprisingly hard to get miners to accept “gay donations”, until finally a Welsh village accepts, not really knowing what they’re in for.

Pride was funny, cute and most charming. It probably isn’t the most complex analysis of the situation, but it gave you an impression while being very entertaining.

Pride is a film with a message: a message of solidarity and support and tolerance, of finding the commonalities, even when it seems that there are none at first and of learning from each other. All of those are very nice things that bear repeating. But I’m not sure how much Pride is a film that works against stereotypes. I think it shows beautifully how both the homosexuals and the miners start to grow closer and adapt to each other, but both the homosexuals and the miners are complete clichés, down to the uncool lesbians who undermine the joint venture by being pesky feminists who form their own women-only group.

It is here with the characters that the lack of depth makes itself most keenly felt. It’s okay to choose easy entertainment over complexity (which is not to say that there can’t be complex entertainment), but I feel like with the characters, especially the homosexuals, they went a little far. The miners, particularly the women of the village, got off way better and generally are the highlight of the film.

Despite that weakness, though, I really enjoyed the film. It moves along at a quick pace, has a good soundtrack and it is funny, leaving you with a smile on your face long after it’s finished. The young half of the cast is perfectly charming, though they do get overshadowed by the older and more experienced cast members, and Dominic West’s dancing [though the part about the gay men teaching the straight men to dance, so that they may successfully woo women made me uncomfortable].

It might not be perfect, but it is good-natured with its stereotypes and otherwise entertaining, so that I was able to blend out the parts that didn’t work out so well. Maybe you can, too.

Summarizing: fun, but shouldn’t be taken seriously.