Pride Review
By David Kempler
Pride and Prejudice
Based on a lengthy miner's strike in Wales in 1984, director Matthew Warchus' "Pride", is as uplifting a film as you may see this year. It is a stellar example of audience manipulation that doesn't annoy in the least. That's because Warchus does a marvelous job of keeping it humming and a wonderfully endearing cast does the rest of the work. The tone is akin to "The Full Monty", another British feel-good adventure.
A small group of gay men and women in London have been having a rough go of it. The police beat on them as a matter of routine. Their treatment by many of the other citizens isn't much better. The group is entertaining and diverse. Some are meek. Some are bold. Some are old. Some are young. Joe (George MacKay) is a suburban young man who takes his new camera into town and gets absorbed into a gay pride parade. It's clear that he belongs with them even if he is not all that comfortable about it.
After the parade, the group, including Joe, are mulling what they should be doing to further their cause. Mike (Ben Schnetzer) emerges as their ring-leader and he has an idea that sounds preposterous to all of them, and the viewing audience will be likewise skeptical of the plan. Miners in Wales have been involved in a very long strike. Mike's brainstorm is that their group of gays in London should start collecting funds to support the miners. His compatriots object to this, citing that miners are no friends of theirs. In fact, they don't look very kindly upon the gay community. After some minimal haggling they all get on board with Mike's odd idea.
The rest of "Pride" deals with the relationships between the group of gays from London and the members of the small mining community in Wales. You can imagine how the first meeting goes. However, it's the females of the small town that take over and every one of them turns in a wonderful performance. The only weakness is the portrayal of the one "evil" family in Wales. They feel more like props than real people.
"Pride" works because the story is true and the acting makes you want to hug lots of the folks. The ending is a guaranteed happy weep-fest that will leave you smiling as you exit. If you usually avoid the feel-good flicks because of their overt manipulation, swallow your pride and make an exception for this one.
