At this point in her career Meryl Streep could read the phone book onscreen for two hours and it still be mildly interesting. But even another great turn from Streep can’t save the disjointed Margaret Thatcher bio pic “The Iron Lady.” Despite Streep’s best efforts this is a mediocre portrait of Britain’s first female Prime Minister – a film with way too much style and not enough substance.
Streep is very good as Thatcher. She has her mannerisms, her trademark voice, and her look down to perfection. But Streep is forced to work with a bare bones screenplay that never really gets too deep into the life of Thatcher.
The biggest problem is Phllida Lloyd and screenwriter Abi Wilson’s fatal decision to have Streep’s Thatcher spending the bulk of “The Iron Lady” reminiscing with her dead husband (played by the always loveable Jim Broadbent). It’s a gimmick that never quite meshes, despite Streep and Broadbent’s best efforts.
This decision sacrifices the chance to really allow the audience to better understand Thatcher and some of her more controversial moments. Instead we get the bullet point version of her career, with no real substance.
What is “The Iron Lady” trying to tell us about Thatcher? Well, as best I can tell it wants to let us know that she sacrificed her family for her career and wasn’t afraid to go toe to toe with the old boy political system (but really is that something that even the casual historian didn’t know beforehand?).
Streep has garnered a lot of attention and buzz as a possible Best Actress winner for this film. I hope that isn’t the case. Make no mistake Streep is very good here, but like Marion Cotillard in “La Vie En Rose” it’s a good performance trapped in a mediocre movie.
Of course Cotillard was able to parlay that performance into an Oscar. I just hope history doesn’t repeat itself here.
Grade: C
mcompton
