Review of The Iron Lady (2011) by Txrangersfan72 — 13 Jan 2012

As a child of the 70s and 80s, I knew of Margaret Thatcher peripherally. My memories of the importance of Margaret Thatcher to the British people from 1979-1990 is peppered with memories of the latest video on MTV, how cool the DeLorean was in Back to the Future and the latest comic books coming out that week.

I knew her relationship to Reagan was important. I kind of knew that she shared many of the socio-political beliefs as Reagan, which made them a strong pair. I knew of her importance as the first British Prime Minister.

However, I wasn't aware of how hated she was in Britain for a time. I knew nothing of her personal life, obviously. And had I not been such an avid history and periodical reader since high school, I wouldn't know much more.

However, it's hard not to be entranced by Meryl Streep's stunning performance of such a distinct person in history. Not surprisingly, she BECOMES Margaret Thatcher and carries an otherwise lukewarm film.

To be objective and separate the "distraction" that is Meryl's perfect portrayal was very difficult, but in what seems like a random display of memories and moments in her life as the viewer is taken through her deeper descent into dementia, an optimistic person would say that the film was designed to seem random so as to match the point of view of the protagonist.

However, my honest belief is that the film's story really has no point. It's just meant to have a flawless actor bring to life public and private moments of an important historical figure. It represents real life, so I guess it isn't supposed to hold any more drama than what actually occurred, but if that was the case, the drama around her envisioning her long-deceased husband, Dennis, seems to contradict the focus of the movie.

The Iron Lady is appealing if only for the performance by Meryl Streep and the walk down memory lane.