Made in Dagenham

I've seen this film before. A year ago I was invited to a test screening of a rough cut of the film and then answer a questionnaire.

I remember liking the film but having a few bones to pick and I wanted to see the polished, tightened version to see if my view changed.

The story is based on true events of 1968 when the women machinists at the Dagenham Ford factory went on strike to get equal pay to their equally grade male co-workers.

Their strike brought the Ford plant to a standstill.

Interwoven into the true story are various emotional threads. Rita O'Grady (Sally Hawkins) who became the figurehead of the campaign battles with a husband who initially supportive is left to pick up the pieces of family life while she is out rallying.

Then there is Connie (Geraldine James) who is trying to cope with her husband who is suffering from post traumic stress from his stint fighting in the second world war. And Lisa (Rosamund Pike) is the first-class honours degree holding wife of one of the Ford bosses reduced to being the hostess with the mostess.

It is a great film not least because it is full of such strong women characters and performances - Miranda Richardson as the government minister is a joy - and it tells of a real political and moral battle of equality. It is told with a good dose of humour and there are some really poignant moments.

But a few little bones remain. As good as the film is, it feels at times a little bit formulaic. The character arcs are sometimes obvious and I'd put a pretty good bet on the bits of fiction that were added to fact for dramatic purposes. OK I know that is inevitable but it just feels a little too close to being film storyline by numbers at times.

Maybe I'm being a bit too nit picking it's got 92% on Rotten Tomatoes.