The Iron Lady (2011)
★★★★/★★★★★
Of course, Meryl Streep is Meryl Streep. Some people might say that her 20-year Oscar drought (since Sophie’s Choice) should be followed immediately, but I have some reservations over her chances as Margaret Thatcher in this biopic. It’s not that she did not act excellently here, but Viola Davis did a slightly better job from ‘The Help’. If she should have gotten a follow-up Oscar, I think it would be from ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ about 5 years ago. Meryl was amazing in this movie and Alexandra Roach, the actress who played the young Margaret, was also phenomenal. I had a history rush with this movie, particularly over the Falkland Wars and the Thatcherism she forwarded in the United Kingdom during her reign as Prime Minister.
It is an interesting way of making a film about the Iron Lady, as I initially expected it to be about her political life, with a hint of her beginnings. However, much of the film was devoted to her dementia, the constant presence (or was it hallucination?) of her husband Denis Thatcher (played by Jim Broadbent) and the constant flashbacks of her political life. After reading online articles criticizing the accuracy of Streep’s portrayal, I think that the artistic liberty taken by the director and screenwriters was not well-received. But to say the movie was total crass was taking it too far. I still think that this is a very good movie.
