Movie Review by Matthew Schuchman
Spending a majority of its reasonable 105 minute running time with a present day representation of Margaret, The Iron Lady puts a new spin on then flashback biopic. Now battling with her fading memory, the film follows Margaret as she argues with her deceased husband. A now purely working memory of her lover, he acts as her opposing inner dialogue. The film explores a woman who was always thinking about and for herself, even when she had support, she came first. Her new inner dialogue in the form of Denis Thatcher beats her up for her mistakes.
While the film uses the truths and facts of Thatcher’s rise to PM and her subsequent 10 years at the position, The Iron Lady is much more a character study of what it takes to hold such a powerful position. You could do right or wrong, but it is how you do it that creates your legacy.
By now, everyone expects only great things from Meryl Streep. It seems slightly unfair that the minute you see her cast in a certain role that she will be nominated for a major award. If anyone other than Streep wins any best actress award in the coming season, something has gone terribly wrong. With The Iron Lady, Meryl Streep may have given the best performance by a lead female in the history of cinema. From her frail state to the terrifying glares she throws at her MPs during closed meetings, Streep has redefined acting.
The release of The Iron Lady comes at an odd time where everything has become the 99% against the 1%. Thatcher is a figure the 1% support, and her policies ruined the lower classes in Britain, it’s a fact. But by focusing on a pitiful woman who can’t face her own pains, The Iron Lady manages to ease all viewers into an enjoyable character study without harping on a partisan analysis.
Rating: 3 and a half out of 5 ‘Staches
Its 105 minutes, not it’s 105 minutes
Thanks, missed it.
And this is one of Streeps best performances, and that’s sainyg something. I feel like she is either taken for granted, or even dismissed like: Oh, there’s Meryl Streep, being great again, whatever This has been a groundbreaking career. Other women of her generation are still struggling although Diane Keaton has had a beautiful resurgence and is also playing leading lady parts still. But Goldie Hawn. Where is she? Susan Sarandon should still be playing leads. There just isn’t enough stuff out there. Older women are seen differently than older men. Especially if we once knew these older women as young and beautiful: nobody wants to see them grow old. Streep is changing all that, and she’s been doing it by stealth.
I’m not gonna treat it like a crap since there are a lot of movies out there that derseve the titles. This is just a poorly constructed film saved by Streep’s pitch perfect performance. But I gotta say Lloyd needs to step up her game if she wants people to see her third film because she can’t work with Meryl Streep forever.
Thanks for your review. I deelnitfiy will go to see this film. I’ve had some friends tell me this movie is awful and others who say I must see it. I’m lucky enough to have friends who are on all sides of political thought, but most agree on Streep’s performance. (By the way, I am so grateful that I have no idea what your politics are from your writings other than common sense.) Films should be works of art and from what I’ve read this movie hits the spot. If one wants historical details, there are several good books on the subject. A true detailed life of Thatcher would be a documentary several hours long, and I would watch that as well.