The once-ubiquitous “Full Monty” formula is alive, well and still awfully hard to resist in “Pride,” a fact-inspired story of an improbable alliance between gay-rights activists and striking miners in the mid-1980s UK.
Though both groups share a loathing for conservative British prime minister Margaret Thatcher — who was ignoring the AIDS crisis while taking a very hard line with the miners — the strikers do not extend the warm welcome to a bus full of gay-rights crusaders from London who descend on a picturesque village in South Wales.
A union rep (Paddy Considine) sees the value of this odd coupling — as do a fiery community organizer (Imelda Staunton of “Vera Drake’’) and a shy old miner with a not-exactly-surprising secret (even if the often-flamboyant Bill Nighy delivers one of the straightest performances of his career in a role that’s much smaller than you’d expect from his top billing).
Much of the macho rank and file, though, is uncomfortable in the presence of their would-be allies, and one particularly homophobic local (Lisa Palfrey) gleefully joins the tabloid press in labeling them “perverts.’’
But the gays are a determined lot who can teach the miners a thing or two about their legal right to assembly — not to mention the Londoners’ ability to organize fabulous fund-raisers.
Playing a mix of real people and composites are a winning group of actors, including Ben Schnetzer and Dominic West as the group’s HIV-positive leaders (a young bookstore owner and a middle-aged actor, respectively) and feisty Faye Marsay as the sole lesbian.
Events unfold largely from the point of view of a 20-year-old closeted gay man (George MacKay) who, unbeknownst to his parents, drops out of college to sneak off and join the crusade.
Matthew Warchus, a celebrated stage director (“God of Carnage”) who helmed the terrible film adaptation of Sam Shepard’s “Simpatico” 15 years ago, does a far better job here.
Stephen Beresford’s script’s has its cornball fish-out-of-water touches to be sure, but “Pride’’ is a bona fide crowd-pleaser — wearing its heart on its sleeve as the film builds to an ending that’s as satisfying as it is surprising.
