Political Feel-Gooderie. But it feels good.

It is by all means a feel-gooderie, bearing all characteristics thereof. The characters are one-dimensional; the plot mostly cheesy, often crass, and at points cringe-worthy. There is a conspicuous disregard of, or perhaps contempt for nuance. But here, it is so enthusiastically welcomed.

Fuck (or shall I say 'screw'?) all this. Screw the nuance, screw the self-consciousness, screw the complexity that so often feels obliged rather than grown. It is celebratory, inspirational, encouraging, and positively unifying - qualities that are so lacking and so direly needed in this country that once saw communities politicised and rallying around human ideals, but have since become increasingly cold and indifferent in these regards.

Yes, it is political propaganda. But it is precisely against these standards that this film shall be judged, and ultimately enjoyed. It has been a long time, or perhaps the first time, that I saw a film, at the end of which the audience erupted into applause.

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Something purely self-indulgent: I loved that there was an attempt at a rather detailed reference to the Police and Evidence Act 1984, which was enacted shortly after the miner's strike started. Unfortunately the relevant provisions that was mentioned in the film, e.g. s.24 on the power to arrest without warrant requiring 'reasonable' grounds to believe that a crime might be committed; and s.41 on the initial time limit of 24 hours of detention without charge, would not have come into effect till 1985/6 after the strike ended. I know it's annoying to point these things out but it's the legal nerd speaking. I certainly don't consider these inaccuracies harming the film in any way.