THE IRON LADY (UK 2011) ***
Directed by Phyllida Lloyd

THE IRON LADY is not a very good movie, but it contains one of the best performances of the year – by Meryl Streep as Britain’s ex-Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher.

The film tells the story of a woman who smashed through the barriers of gender and class to be heard in a male-dominated world. The story concerns power and the price that is paid for power, and is a surprising and insightful portrait of an extraordinary and complex woman.

The film begins with an older Thatcher (Streep in heavy ageing make-up) getting a pint of milk at the neighbourhood grocery store.  She is pushed off a queue, not getting the respect she deserved for the hard work she did for the country.  She is suffering from dementia and has not got over the loss of her husband, Dennis.  Her rise to power from grocer’s daughter to Prime Minister is told in flashbacks so that the film feels time linear, though it is strictly not.  The film offers mainly the good side of the IRON LADY, perhaps the only bad thing shown is her deriding of a Parliament member for not preparing the time schedule for the meeting.

But the film omits many key issues.  Her friendship with Ronald Reagan and her relationship to the Queen are noticeably missing.  How can one film boast to be an authentic biography of a British Prime Minister then?  One wonders whose fault this is?  Scriptwriter Abi Morgan (SHAME) or director Lloyd (who made one of the worst movies ever – MAMMA MIA!).

The film emphasizes most of Thatcher’s triumphs. The Falklands War victory including the part she plays take quite a bit of screen running time.

The appearance of Jim Broadbent is a friendly ghost tormenting Margaret is a bit much to take in.  The younger actors portraying the younger Thatcher and Dennis, Alexandra Roach and Harry Lloyd are also very good as obviously Streep is.

The make-up is quite good (a lot of scenes require Streep to look much older) and not as cheesy as Leonardo DiCaprio’s in EDGAR J.
It is interesting to note that apart from Thatcher’s dementia, there is nothing new to be learnt about her from this movie that is not already known or seen before in news footage or the newspapers.  All her quotable speeches are present with no surprises.

THE IRON LADY is to be watched from Meryl Streep’s Oscar worthy performance.  And it is also good too, to hear time and again the ex-Prime Minister’s famous quotes.