Review: "The Iron Lady"

Film And DVD Reviews by Phil Boatwright

Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent, Harry Lloyd. Biography. The Weinstein Company. Written by Abi Morgan. Directed by Phyllida Lloyd. 12/30/11 (limited).

FILM SYNOPSIS: The Iron Lady is an intimate portrait of Margaret Thatcher (Meryl Streep), the first and only female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. One of the 20th century’s most famous and influential women, Thatcher came from nowhere to smash through barriers of gender and class to be heard in a male-dominated world.

REVIEW: Though the filmmaker shows defects in the Prime Minister’s conservative decisions, I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t a full-out attack on conservative politics, but a fully realized portrait of a woman who broke down barriers. It comes across that Margaret Thatcher’s decisions were based on her beliefs, and that she stood up for those beliefs in the face of adversity. She’s a politician, but one gets the distinct impression that she is also a good person.

As with any Hollywood biopic, I was a bit put off by the production’s many suppositions rather than biographic facts. Scene after scene is built on presumption. No one would have had access to private moments between Margaret and her family or confidants, so one wonders if they are simply made up for the film. And throughout the film, Margaret imagines her dead husband in the room, carrying on conversations, even so far as giving her political guidance.

But as I say, it is not an attack on this woman, but an appreciative look at a person of substance.

And once again, the chameleon-like Ms. Streep gives us a fully realized portrait. She doesn’t mimic, but rather, she becomes this person. Streep indicates a respect for the people she plays, no matter how flawed she might find them, and never more so than here.

PG-13 (one muted profane use of God’s name as a man cuts himself shaving; real footage of protestors and police in violent conflict; scenes of mob violence as protestors show their rage; twice, bombs go off, one killing a friend of Ms. Thatcher; brief footage of the war in the Falklands; a brief shot of a celebrating woman at the end of the war, shedding her top). Intended Audience: Mature viewers

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DEFINITIONS

Profanity – God’s name followed by a curse or the abusive use of Christ’s name

Obscenity – a swear word, indecent language

Expletive – minor curse words such as damn or hell

Crudity – vulgar, often coarse situations or dialogue dealing with bodily functions

Adult Subject Matter – situations or subjects unsuitable for or difficult to comprehend by children