Starring: George MacKay, Ben Schnetzer, Imelda Staunton
A film about the group, Lesbians & Gays Support The Miners who operated in a small Welsh town amidst the mid-80's miners strikes is a very earnest film and firmly believes in its convictions. The film knows ots audience and completely caters to it, showing clear support for both the working classes and the struggle for gay rights. It's a powerful and (assuming your views are similar to those of the film) meaningful. There is an issue however with where the audience fits in with all of it.
We're presented with Joe, played by George MacKay, as a quiet everyman. The character who usually represents the audience perspective, but who is often pushed out of the limelight, both in story and in the film's publicity (posters and trailers have tended to advertise bigger names like Imelda Staunton, Bill Nighy, Paddy Considine and Dominic West) and what happens is a sense of the situation but perhaps not as much of a personal touch. The film also portrays both the gay community and the rural Welsh community with jokes and stereotypes, but knowingly and lovingly even if some of the moments which could actually be genuine (a hall full of people leaping into an impromptu anthem of solidarity) comes off as a little too fanciful. Still, speaking as someone who comes from a similarly-affected former mining community and a believer in gay rights, I think the film does well enough.
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