REVIEW: Mother’s Pride - utterly predictable yet thoroughly enjoyable

There’s a long history of films about good-hearted Brit under-dogs coming good against all the odds and in the face of nasty commercialism.

Here’s the latest – and at no point do you feel in any doubt about just where exactly it’s going. But it’s no less enjoyable for that.

Mother’s Pride is the latest proof that there’s a huge place for wholesome feel-good fare at the cinema. The film is as enjoyable as it is utterly predictable. There’s no set back that can’t be overcome, from heartbreak to heart attack via all manner of clunky obstacles along the way. They heap up – just so that we can enjoy sheer decency and hard work knocking back them down again.

The film centres on a fast-failing village pub, its failure accelerated by its morose grieving landlord, a widower who’s scarcely bothering to bother as it all goes down the pan – excellent from the resurgent Martin Clunes.

Clunes’ Mick isn’t even trying to compete with the packed gastropub directly opposite, run by the ghastly money-driven upper-class rat Edward Pritchard (Luke Treadaway) who is prepared to stoop to the lowest of lows to put the Drovers Arms out of its misery.

But then the prodigal son returns – another nice performance, this one from Jonno Davies as the local lad who left home to become a rock star and seemingly, inexplicably failed to make contact again when his mum died. Mick is furious to see him again, the family apparently irreparably wrecked.

But it’s all much more complicated than that as Cal’s sad story emerges – and with it Cal’s plan to save the pub: he’s going to brew the best, the most natural beer ever and in so doing honour the mother whose death so nearly broke him.

Coming back into the picture at this point is his ex (Gabriella Wilde) who in the meantime has hooked up with the villain of the piece. Will she see the error of her ways? Will she realise that Cal never actually stopped loving her? Will Cal’s new brew be a success? Will the pub be saved?

Well, what do you think? Not a lot is actually in doubt – not least that you will thoroughly enjoy watching it all unfold to a conclusion you can see many a mile off.