'The Iron Lady'

'The Iron Lady' (PG-13) (rental)

Writer: Abi Morgan
Director: Phyllida Lloyd
Starring: Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent, Alexandra Roach, Harry Lloyd, Olivia Colman, Richard Grant

I noticed something while watching the Margaret Thatcher biopic "The Iron Lady". Meryl Streep gets taken for granted even though she gets heaps of praise all the time. I noticed that we sometimes think we see Streep acting but during her latest performance I noticed she dissapears into her characters. My mother told me this the other night before I saw this movie and now it is crystal clear. Meryl Streep gives a lived in performance that is amazing and sometimes I found her to be unrecognizable and that is how masterful she is here. I just wished the movie lived up to her performance.

When Streep played Julia Child in "Julia and Julia" great as she was I still could see Streep in the performance and I could see her acting. She is much better here because I couldn't see her acting at all. Right from the first frame she totally immerses herself in the character and Streep the actor is gone. The movie itself is another matter because I learned nothing new and the device of telling the story here is awkward and annoying. Writer Abi Morgan and director Phyllida Lloyd jump back and forth showing the older, retired Thatcher and the younger college, career bound Thatcher. Then we jump to Prime Minister Thatcher dealing with the Falkland Wars. The movie jumps around too much and while I am not a big fan of the straight narrative approach this movie should have stayed put and gone in chronological order.

I could never get into the story of this movie for I am not that interested in or a huge fan of Thatcher or British politics. I wanted to be surprised and to learn something and all I learned is that Streep is a fantastic and lo and behold I already knew that. Meryl Streep is incredibly great in this role and I was also surprised at the look of the older Thatcher, how real Streep looked and how well she acted in those scenes. Old age make up and actors growing old in film is usually hammy and awkward. Though I cringed at the way the movie uses that old living charcacter talks to a dead character device. The movie has a fragile, older Thatcher talking to her dead husband Dennis played by Jim Broadbent. Those scenes, and there are a lot of them, distract from the story.

So if you love Meryl Streep I guess you should go see "The Iron Lady" but don't expect a weighty or powerful film. I felt nothing while watching except pure joy in watching Streep. I guess that is enough for you to see it, just to see Streep give another amazing performance and I think her best in years. So if you are a Meryl Streep fan you should go see it and she will be nominated for and even might win the Oscar. If you are not a big political movie fan or you couldn't care less about Thatcher you should skip it. This would be a great movie to watch next to my favorite Streep performance as Karen Silkwood on DVD so you can marvel at the wonderment of Meryl Streep.

P.S. For better Meryl Streep movies and better political bios check out "Silkwood", "Sophie's Choice" and "Kramer vs. Kramer". Political bios like the wink, wink Bill Clinton bio movie "Primary Colors" or "Nixon" would be great also.