The Iron Lady - quick review

I often find Patrick to be too a little too hard on films, but in this case, he has been far too forgiving. Michael's review is spot on. This film is dreadful.

No matter what one thinks of Ms. Thatcher and her actions as PM, you can't deny that there has to be an interesting story in her rise to power and in her time leading her government. Yet what we get here is pretty much half of the film's running time spent watching a 90-year old woman puttering about her flat while sliding into dementia. It doesn't matter whether these scenes are accurate or not (and I don't see how they can be anything but speculation), what matters is that they're boring.

I kept waiting for this film to leave the old biddy behind and get into Thatcher's actual life. But all the writer gives us is 5 minute snippets of her "greatest hits" punctuated by more pointless scenes of her supposed present-day life. We see Ms. Thatcher get elected to Parliament and some of her first day there. The next time we flashback over a decade has passed and she's on the front bench as Education secretary. How did that happen? Surely there's a compelling story in this young woman's rise to power in the boys' club of British politics? And here's what we see of her 10+ years as PM:

• A brief overview of her first campaign as Conservative leader and her first day at 10 Downing.
• A few minutes of the unrest and riots that occurred as her government cut services to the bone.
• A couple of minutes dealing with the bombing of the Grand Hotel that she survived.
• The Falklands. This is the longest look we get at Maggie as PM - we get almost 10 minutes here.
• A brief look at her fall from power.

That's 20-25 minutes tops to cover the time in office of one of the most important and influential leaders of the latter half of the 20th Century. Ridiculous. 

The incompetence on display goes beyond just the script. The direction is feeble and uninspired, and the cinematography follows suit. As Patrick rightly pointed out, only the old-age makeup for Ms. Streep stands out as a high level of film craft - other than the film's star, of course. Streep is, as almost always, brilliant. But it is brilliance in service of nothing. I am hoping she does NOT win the Oscar, if only because she should have known better than to sign onto this script.

Take the basic idea of Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher, give it to a good historical screenwriter like Peter Morgan (The Queen) and any of a large number of competent directors - it makes one weep to think of what could have been done with this material. As it is what we have in The Iron Lady is, sadly, one of the worst films of the year.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michael Elliott 


It's funny but I was thinking the same thing today. It's probably closer to a but I gave it some extra credit simply for Streep's performance. While talking to my co-workers about the film today I realized that I was bashing every single aspect of the film and I actually grew angry with how bad I thought it was.

I'm guessing Streep is the front runner for the Best Actress Oscar but it's a shame that such a bad movie might get more attention. As great as she was I really do have to question whether or not the film needs or deserves any more attention.

I was growing angrier and angrier as I watched the film. That hasn't happened in a long time for me, that a movie has pissed me off (I do try to avoid obviously bad movies). What a wasted opportunity.

I'm on Team Viola, or Team Michelle, or Team Glenn, or Team Tilda - whoever can keep an Best Actress Oscar from going to this film. Meryl already has two and will undoubtedly have many more chances in better films.