British Prime Minister (from 1979 - 1990) Margaret Thatcher biopic with the great Meryl Streep (in an Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA winning performance) playing the titular Iron Lady. Tells Thatcher's story via flashback, including the lead-up to Britain's controversial involvement in the Falklands War in 1982. Jim Broadbent plays her husband Dennis.
The Iron Lady blog says the story is about 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 an intimate portrait of an extraordinary and complex woman."
It’s hard to conjure up an actress that could better Meryl Streep’s portrayal of Margret Thatcher in this biopic, told through a political highlights reel intercut with a dreary tale of aging and self-reflection. From her first chaotic steps into the governmental ‘mad house’ to her frail final years battling geriatric psychoses, Streep never falters.
Unfortunately, the movie doesn’t compliment her, hardly ever taking the time to capitalise (pun intended) on the significant turning points that defined Thatcher as a relevant political force. Numerous side characters are examined with little depth, a fact that becomes obvious when the film tries to associate them with some heavy importance.
A few scenes did triumph, however, despite being few and far between. With the aid of educated advisers, Thatcher’s presentational transformation from delicate housewife to dominant MP is highly fulfilling (including a voice-training segment that they probably labelled ‘The Queen’s Speech’). It’s also hard not to fist-pump in satisfaction when she performs a verbally vasectomy on her chauvinistic opponents.
As a biopic, The Iron Lady does the bare minimum of what it needed. Paradoxically, Maggie Thatcher was never one to tolerate those who did ‘the bare minimum’.
By Liam Maguren, Flicks.co.nz
As always, Meryl Streep's acting is unbeatably brilliant. She becomes Margaret Thatcher. This film jumps back and forth through time between now and parts of Margaret's life. If you are not familiar with the life or Margaret Thatcher, this movie might be very hard to follow. I would think anybody under thirty (or even forty) might not be able to understand this film. For those of us who are a bit older however, an excellent film.
Interesting & enjoyable. You can't go wrong with Meryl Streep.
Phyllida Lloyd, director of 'Mamma Mia,' reunites with Meryl Streep to bring this strange and fractured tale of an aged and all too human ex-Prime Minister, on the verge of dementia. In focusing on the aging protagonist and her flashes of memories and chats with her deceased husband Dennis, the film portrays Lady Thatcher as a human being - no small feat in itself. For those who lived through the Thatcher years in the UK, it's almost impossible to see her as anything but The Iron Lady she and Murdoch's media portrayed her as. Giving her a heart is a major achievement in its own right. Yes, Meryl Streep is transformative in her portrayal. But this life required a lot more than 1 hr 45 minutes to do much more than skim the surface. The material deserves at least a nine-hour BBC / HBO mini-series! Squeezing everything down to this digestible Hollywood biopic style running time creates a two-dimensional portrait of a "feminist" heroine rather than a complex, multi-layered, complex person who was far from perfect and far from a political Joan of Arc... But at least this film tries to deliver something different in its non-linear structure. Being way way to slight of time, it fails - but fails admirably. As for Meryl Streep? Her performance alone is enough to garner three (right-wing and very blue) stars.
o me British politics is about as exciting as counting rice, the prospect of watching a biopic on the barren Margaret Thatcher had me reaching for handfuls of Uncle Bens. A number of people for whom I have the upmost respect have told me that I should go and see The Iron Lady; they said that it transcended its subject's unpopularity and showed a side of Thatcher that I, or most uninterested people, wouldn't have known. I consider myself to be open-minded when it comes to the cinema so I tried to dispel all pre-conceptions of what I was about to experience as I strolled down to the newly refurbished Embassy Theatre. I should have seen the early warning signs of what was to come, sadly The Embassy was having what they called "technical disruptions". I was happy enough to wait as the juvenile technician tried to figure out what was going on, but after 22 minutes I was starting to consider a refund and to head somewhere else. Then, as if the cinemas gods were paying attention to my fading patience, the screen flickered into action and the opening credits rolled. The Iron Lady is the story of Margaret Thatcher, arguably the most unpopular Prime Minister in British history, and the film is delivered in a series of flash backs of Thatcher's life & career seen through the eyes an elderly, frail Thatcher (Meryl Streep). We quickly learn she is battling both dementia and long held grief for the death of her husband Denis (Jim Broadbent). The plot then moves awkwardly between the seclusion of growing old alone and the highs of being a world leader. The film is an extremely personal portrayal about the true cost of personal ambition.
I think most people may miss the point of this film. Rather than a biopic of M. Thatcher it is more of a story of the relationship between Margaret and Dennis, the man who propped her up with his undying love even after death. Meryl Streep is extraordinary but it would have been more satisfying for most of us to see a linear tale of Margaret's life. But then, didn't this director also make Mama Mia? If so I rest my case.
One of Streep’s finest-ever performances. But beyond that — whatever Morgan and Lloyd’s intentions — it’s little more than a myth-enshrining exercise.
A breezy, whistle-stop tour through the unstable nitroglycerin of Thatcher's life and times.
Meryl Streep gives a fully realized portrait of British Prime Minister Thatcher in a biopic that values character over context.
This is a brave stab at a contemporary life, and even with its flaws it does Margaret Thatcher a certain grudging justice. Awards should be coming Streep’s way; yet her brilliance rather overshadows the film itself.
Not Iron Man’s mother, but an adroit if flashy tribute to Mrs Thatcher’s ascent to power. Sly satire and a sublime Streep should tempt in more than the party faithful.
We've been told the NZ release date for this flick is Monday, 26th Dec 2011.
Release date: December 26th 2011.
We haven't received times for this movie in this location yet. However these are updated as cinemas announce them, so check back soon. Hopefully the lovely cinemas in your location will choose to play it shortly. ~Ed.
