Review of The Iron Lady (2011) by Tobias J — 23 Jul 2012
This is a problematic film. Meryl Streep has moments of unadulterated brilliance, and it's some of the finest acting you'll see all year, but this is a wake-up call for those who think that an actor, no matter how talented, can stand on their own without a good director.
Phyllida Lloyd's direction of this film is, to put it mildly, a mess (and Abi Morgan's heavy-handed screenplay does Lloyd no favors). Using Margaret Thatcher's bout with dementia as the film's basis ends up being both a bad idea and also kind of insulting to Thatcher considering she's still alive.
Montages gloss over major historic moments, and we don't see the growth of the woman at all. That said, Streep does her damnedest to make it work, but she just can't. No actor, no matter how brilliant, can overcome this.
It benefits from being very easy to watch, mostly thanks to Streep, but for historical purposes and for cinematic purposes, it's not very good.
This review of The Iron Lady (2011) was written by Tobias J on 23 Jul 2012.
The Iron Lady has generally received mixed reviews.
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