The Iron Lady

Before viewing, "The Iron Lady", I didn't really know much about Margaret Thatcher. Other than she was the prime minister of England for 11 years, she was a very controversial figure and still is to this day. So I was really interested to see the film and I decided to visit the WGA screening.

Now let me begin by saying, Meryl Streep embodies Margaret Thatcher. She doesn't just look like her, but she talks like her, her facial expressions are spot on. Meryl Streep becomes Margaret Thatcher. I would be shocked if she doesn't win an Oscar for this performance. The supporting cast is good too, Jim Broadbent gives an excellent performance, everyone is just great.

However aside from the top notch acting, the movie had a few flaws. The story was uninteresting at times, the flashback scenes were a bit muddled and a little confusing. The movie felt a little too safe, it tried too hard, not to be controversial. Although I don't entirely blame the film itself for that. Margaret Thatcher was such a decisive person, that whichever side the film picked, it would be criticized by a lot of people. I guess the film ultimately achieved the goal.

I also liked the movie didn't dwell too much on the politics, but on the character of Margaret Thatcher. We see the human side of The Iron Lady herself, beyond all the partisan politics and rumors, we get to see a very personal and sad side of her. The subplot focusing on Thacther's grief over her husband's death, as the older version battles with hallucinations and an unwillingness to let go of her dear Denis are heartbreaking.

Overall the movie was really well done, but just shy of greatness. Meryl Streep's performance and the supporting cast, truly elevates the film into a great biopic. Although I wished a little more time was spent on focusing on her political life, the movie successfully showed a deep and moving side of the prime minister. Which a lot of biopics fail to do. Whatever your opinions might be on Margaret Thatcher, don't fault the movie because of the opinion. And I highly respect Phyllida LLoyd, Meryl Streep, Abi Morgan and others for trying to portray such a decisive and highly controversial figure.

Iron Lady, The (2011)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Incredibly disappointing film about the life of Margaret Thatcher (Meryl Streep) from her early days to her rise to power. I'll start off with the obvious and that's the fact that Streep has once again delivered a remarkable performance. I'm really not sure how she does it but even under tons of make-up to make herself look like the elderly Thatcher, Streep still manages to get across various emotions and just look into those beautiful eyes and you can see everything you need to know. The actress has become legendary for many reasons but one of them is due to her uncanny accents and the one here is among the greatest you're ever going to hear. I should also mention that the previously mentioned make-up effects are wonderful and the people behind J. EDGAR should have asked for some advice on making people looking older. With all of that said, take away Streeps wonderful performance and you're left with one of the worst movies of the year and something so boring and lifeless that it's doubtful it would find its way onto the made-for-TV level. I wasn't sure what to expect going into the movie but I must say that I was blown away at how lifeless, silly and incredibly boring the entire thing was. I'm not an expert on the history covered in this film nor do I know a lot about Thatcher but if they couldn't come up with more interesting parts of her life than what's on display here then perhaps no film should have been made. For the life of me I can't understand why the screenwriter, producers and director decided to tell the movie in the fashion that they did. We start off with the elderly Thatcher having hallucinations of herself carrying on conversations with her dead husband. We then get flashback to various parts of her life. However, I was shocked to see that the majority of the running time deals with Thatcher and these fake conversations with her dead husband. I mean, could they not have focused on something other that these conversations? Was there a point of showing her in this fashion? Did they think this was going to add some sort of drama? The only thing it adds is the viewer constantly looking at their watch to see how much longer they have until the film is over. By the time the movie was over I really couldn't say I learned too much about Thatcher and worst of all is the fact that I didn't care about anything I was seeing. The only bit of a lifeline to be found is when we see Thatcher starting to take off in the political world but this is mainly due to Streep's fiery performance. THE IRON LADY will be remembered for one reason but even the greatness of Streep isn't enough to save the picture.

not good or bad. only strange because the courage to present the lead character more than a puzzle, to create more than a sketch of an admirable maker of history is absent. and only good point of The Iron Lady remains the presence of Meryl Streep in the lead role. the error is temptation to present the career of Prime Minister as flashes of memory. the last years of life are only a dark room far by the flashes of media. her sense of life remains the fight for the wise administration of the United Kingdom's interests. not the illness. not the fall. a part, far to be significant, becomes more important than entire life. Margaret Thacher's memory deserves more than an essay . or a sketch.because the film remains touching and seductive in a special form but not convincing.

Biopics are always a problem. That's why the long form, HBO style is infinitely more suitable and altogether more satisfying. Okay, now, once that aside, let me talk about Meryl Streep. A miracle! She does the impossible, not only manages to inhabit Thatcher, she also reveals her under a slightly different light. The human light. No matter how much at odds I've been with her politics, I saw that human side through Meryl Streep's eyes and realized that I had forgotten to remember, Thatcher was a human being, a woman breaking ground. She loved her husband but put her career first, as most men in her position do. Her drive is a mystery as much a mystery as Meryl Streep's art. After seeing the film, me, a life long anti-Thatcher, I have to say that it's a fair portrait of the woman. The ones who never heard of Margaret Thatcher, and there are, two of them were sitting next to me in theater, I think they thought "The Iron Lady" was the female version of "Iron Man" but even them surrendered to the character trough the glories of this other giant of our generation, Meryl Streep.

Meryl Streep is "The Iron Lady," Margaret Thatcher, in her Oscar-winning performance from 2011.

I'm a little bit at a loss here. I'm not British, so as far as what Mrs. Thatcher did and did not do during her tenure, there's no way I can comment on the way it was portrayed. It does seem from reading other reviews that dramatic license was used.

I really can only write about the film and the acting. Directed by Phyllida Lloyd, "The Iron Lady" uses flashbacks of an elderly, widowed, demented Mrs. Thatcher to tell her story. It's on the choppy side. That Thatcher was a strong, determined, ambitious woman, there is no doubt, but there were smoother ways to tell her story.

As far as Meryl Streep, as someone who was an actress myself and as someone who has been watching Meryl Streep since she was in the film "Julia," I can say that initially, there was criticism of her because you could, as actors say, "see her working." When she made a "choice" as an actress, it was transparently just that, a choice, not part of the character. I heard someone speak of her once, and she said, "I watch her and I think oh, what an interesting choice." Well, as the years have gone by, a lot of that is less evident, and many of her performances have been nothing short of magnificent. I must say that I am very, very sensitive to "acting," where someone puts on a character like they would a coat. In a biopic, this becomes an impersonation.

I won't say there were no moments of "impersonation" here, maybe there were a few, but Streep did an absolutely fabulous job inhabiting Margaret Thatcher. I can't imagine how many hours of footage she watched, and when she was elderly, Streep was elderly in her walk and in every other way possible. Having had a mother with dementia, the look in Streep's eyes when Thatcher zoned out was perfection, right on.

One reviewer said "impersonation" is easy to do. Maybe, but this wasn't impersonation. I felt it was organic, and I lost awareness that I was watching Meryl Streep.

The real star of the film was her performance, not the script. I can't comment on the strong resemblance actors had to other politicians. If they did, there's nothing wrong with that.

All in all, worth seeing for Streep's performance.