Other Media Review

Guest Review: Pride

I received a truly squee-ful email from Lucylegs, who saw Pride, a movie that’s been in limited release in many countries. She wanted to encourage more people to see it, and so here is her guest review. Welcome, Lucylegs!


YOU MUST GO SEE THIS MOVIE!!!

I AM FLAILY AND HAVE ALL OF THE FEELS!!!!

That was pretty much what I emailed to Sarah, and she, no doubt stroking her bald cat, said ‘how interesting, care to write a review?’ and I said ‘um no I WANT YOU TO GO SEE THIS MOVIE OMG and also (I have not written a review since high school and am totally not coherent) (ahem) and FLAIL!’ But then she did puppy eyes, because the woman can apparently do puppy eyes over the internet, and also I really want you guys to go see this movie because I think everyone reading this will love it.

(Sarah adds: No puppies were harmed in the making of this review.)

Honestly the only people who might not enjoy it would be die hard Thatcherites or anti-unionists with no soul, and I think even they stand a fair chance of getting swept up by it.

I went in knowing the bare minimum – that it was a movie based on the true story of how, during the 1984 British Miner’s Strike, activist groups of gays and lesbians banded together to help struggling mining families.  But you don’t need to know the history to appreciate what is going in this movie. The thing is, this isn’t a movie about ‘gay people’, or about ‘Welsh miners’, or even, really, about the 1980s, though the sense of place and time are beautifully and subtly evoked, and I feel the wallpapers in particular deserve their own credit. And this isn’t a political movie, or a movie about social activism and inequality, though those things do form the background of the story.

This is a movie about people helping people – seeing a need, recognising a struggle, and being willing to make that struggle their own. It is about people daring to hope and care and rising above themselves, putting themselves outside of their comfort zone and connecting, people who happen to be gay and happen to be miners standing together and helping each other. And by doing so, changing the world.

I hate to use terms like ‘feel-good movie’ or ‘heartwarming’ because they conjure up a sort of sickly sweet imposed sappishness which isn’t there at all, and yet this movie is all of these things. It is funny, and hopeful, and joyous, and upbeat, but it is all these things without being overly sentimental or having a rosy hued view of ‘ye olde times’. I was also very pleasantly surprised – slightly stunned in fact – that, as a ‘gay movie’, this was not a Tragic Tale of Woe, and did not have a sad ending, as is usually the fate of LGBTQ characters in movies. Either that or they are so stiltedly politically correct they make my teeth hurt.

As far as I am concerned this movie is two hours of perfect, of tears (I cry easily, but there’s nothing majorly traumatic though the movie does touch on the AIDS crisis and coming out as gay in the 80s), of laughter (I can’t remember the last time I laughed so hard at a movie), of fascinating historical stuff I had no idea about (the movie does not seem to have altered much at all as far as I can tell) and as soon as the movie was over I wanted to watch it again, and can see myself watching it regularly after I get it on DVD. I am trying to be coherent but mostly I just want to flail and make squeaking noises about how much I enjoyed this movie.

The actors are all amazing. Imelda Staunton is awesome and inspiring as one of the Welsh activists, as is the marvelous Jessica Gunning. Ben Schnetzer as the leader of the gay activists, is both irreverent and intense, and Bill Nighy turns in a good show as, well, himself as always. Dominic West is a scene stealer as flamboyant gay activist Jonathan Blake. George MacKay is excellent as a young man discovering his place in the world. But really everyone deserves a specific mention and a heap of laurels – the acting was across the board fantastic.

Yet another awesome (have I used this word a lot? I feel like I’ve used this word a lot. This movie deserves lots of this word! Um, that possibly sounded better in my head…) thing about this movie is the sheer volume of women in this movie! It moves effortlessly between the personal stories and journeys of the characters and the overall struggle against the Thatcher government.

My in-house expert (the resident 18 yr old) says that there were no filters or tricks used, it was just a good movie in that the director really knew what he was doing. She says she also liked how the camera pointed at the faces of pretty people. I think she initially came with because we were paying, convinced that it was going to be an ‘old person movie’, but as soon as George MacKay came on screen the squeaking and flailing started. She said afterwards that it was interesting – the highest of praise.

And speaking of teenagers, I noticed that this movie is rated R in the US, which is, quite frankly, ridiculous – teens would enjoy this movie and there is no sex shown, just gay culture in London in the 80s. I guarantee if they have an internet connection they’ve seen it all already. Younger teens might be bored, and kids I think would be as there are a lot of concepts such as going on strike and protesting that might be just a bit advanced for them, but there’s not really much contentwise that I can think of to deserve the high rating. What they call here ‘implied violence and sexual references’.


I’d heard nothing about this movie until Lucylegs emailed me, and I’m sad I missed it! You can read more about the film at the official website.

If you’re outside the US, you may have better luck finding the film in theatres. The DVD and Blu-Ray will be released in the US 23 December 2014 and you can pre-order it at Amazon.

And here’s the trailer:

Add Your Comment →

  1. DonnaMarie says:

    I’m flailing and having feels just from the trailer. Thanks for the heads up Lucylegs and Sarah. Bill Nighy AND Imelda Stauton? This is so my cuppa.

  2. azteclady says:

    Don’t you hate how so many great movies get little to no promotion of any kind, and then you miss them entirely? Thank you kindly for the heads up.

  3. Frannie says:

    I saw this film recently and thought it was just terrific. Great review Lucylegs; I hope lots of people find an opportunity to see it.

  4. LaurieF says:

    I usually watch one to two movies a year. I think this will be one of them. Glad you got the word out. Hadn’t heard of it.

  5. Helen says:

    My 16 year old nephew was taken to see this from school, he is in the UK (South Wales actually), I guess that illustrates on some level the difference in approach and attitudes in Europe and North America.
    Incidentally, this means 3 generations of my family have seen and recommend this film

  6. Alex says:

    I loved, loved, loved this film. Think I cried within the first 5 minutes and then alternated between crying and honking with laughter for the rest of it!

    Lucylegs, can’t believe you didn’t give Paddy Considine any love in your review! The man is a legend. Not the flashiest role in this film but perfect nonetheless.

  7. Kirsty says:

    I saw this on a preview showing here in Glasgow, Scotland. The entire cinema applauded as soon as the credits started rolling. It is a truly wonderful film. I really really really want to see some of the leads get nominations for their performances. Staunton,Nighy and Considine espeically.

    Watch it, please. It’s fabulous.

  8. SB Sarah says:

    I cannot wait for this to be available on video. Do you want me to post a reminder when it’s out?

  9. SB Sarah says:

    I love that in the US it’s rated R, and in South Wales, it’s a school trip. Oh, America.

  10. Natalie says:

    Yes, please, Sarah, remind us when this is out!

  11. azteclady says:

    Oh yes, a reminder would be great.

  12. Elinor Aspen says:

    If any of the characters drop some f-bombs, that will pretty much guarantee it an R rating in the US. I don’t know if that is the case with this movie, since I haven’t seen it yet. It sounds amazing.

  13. Susan in TX says:

    We saw this two weeks ago with another couple. All four of us loved it and couldn’t stop talking about it. Definitely on my Top 20 All-time List. Will see it again when it’s on video, for sure.

  14. Cate says:

    I was a student nurse in Cardiff in ’84, and I remember this period so well. Went to see this film and bloody loved it ! It gets South Wales so brilliantly….And it’s screamingly, pelvic floor exercisingly,genuinely funny.
    So this & What We Did On Our Holiday (David Tennent & Billy Connolly… go & see it) are the two best films I’ve seen this year.Don’t mess about, if you get the chance to see either of these films, just go & enjoy. There’s a real sense of joy in both films .

  15. Anon says:

    This may or may not make some of you love this movie more, but I know a couple of the people minor characters are based on, and can tell you that apparently as part of promoting the film the producers are actually funding some GLBT and left wing activism. Which I happen to think is awesome.

  16. DonnaMarie says:

    @Elinor Aspen, I believe it might actually be the dildo you see Imelda Stauton waving around in the preview. You can swear and kill people in a PG or PG13 movie, but you absolutely can not show middle aged women laughing about sex toys without an R. America. Sigh.

  17. Alex Hurst says:

    I hadn’t heard of this movie, but now I am definitely going to see it when I can get my hands on it. 😀 Sounds great!

  18. Lucylegs says:

    It is so very awesome to read everyone’s comments! Sitting here with a grin from ear to ear! Love how many of you have seen it already and loved it, and so happy to have inspired some of you to want to see it.

    @Alex I wanted to keep the review as spoilerfree as possible, and a list of who was awesome without more detail would be a bit dull. Every actor in this film was awesome. I just chose to highlight who stood out to me off the top of my head after one viewing – Paddy Considine delivered an beautiful, nuanced and subtle performance which is certainly one of the things I am looking forward to when I get the DVD.

    @ Cate What We Did On Our Holiday sounds neat, you should totally write a review for Sarah! It’s fun, I promise! 😀

  19. Kathy says:

    Fleur Cinema, an awesome independent theater in Des Moines, had this movie in early fall. It was wonderful.

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