 | Rochester born filmmaker Matthew Warchus (‘Simpatico’, ‘Matilda’) has gone down the Billy Elliot/Full Monty route for his latest film, a touching, witty and heartwarming story set during the miner’s strike. |
| In a time when we were told there was “no such thing as society”, the unions are being bashed and the AIDS, dubbed the “gay disease”, cruelly fuels homophobia this sincere tale of solidarity and people fighting back is beautifully told. That time was about Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Bronksi Beat, yet also ignorance, prejudice and Baroness Thatcher! However things were not all grim – Chris Smith, newly elected to the UK parliament declared: "My name is Chris Smith. I'm the Labour MP for Islington South and Finsbury, and I'm gay": he was the first openly out homosexual politician in the UK parliament… | So, a gay activist is inspired to start raising money for the miners, arguing that the two apparently disparate groups have common interests. The serious issues are interwoven with a massively warm hearted sense of humour provided by the ensemble piece which includes a host of familiar faces from British cinema with stand out performances by Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton, Paddy Considine, Dominic West and George MacKay. A sincere film with a strong political message about civil rights Matthew Warchus has a clearly obvious passion for the subject this is an unlikely alliance between gay rights activists and striking miners that makes the heart glad and is a true crowd-pleaser. |