An irresistibly entertaining true-story comedy drama. 4/5 stars
This funny and touching film tells the tale of the unlikely alliance forged at the height of the 1984-5 Miners' Strike between a group of gays and lesbians and the inhabitants of a small mining village in South Wales.
Cue broad culture-clash humour when the London-based activists turn up in the Welsh village and even broader comedy when some of the villagers pay a return visit to the capital.
But there is real heart and soul here, too, not least in the warmly sympathetic performances from the likes of Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton and Paddy Considine among the Welsh, and Dominic West, Andrew Scott, George MacKay and Ben Schnetzer among their gay supporters.
There are also plenty of shrewd insights into the era and a rousing message of empathy and solidarity that's every bit as pertinent today as it was three decades ago.
