Review: The Iron Lady

Even 21 years after she resigned as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Margaret Thatcher is still considered the Marmite of British politics.  That's why I was intrigued to see The Iron Lady when it came out this weekend in London.



First of all, I have to give exceptional praise to Meryl Streep, who played Mrs. Thatcher extraordinarily well.  Thatcher was known for her determination in getting what she wanted, and throughout the entire film, you could actually see the sheer resolve in the face of adversity that Mrs. Thatcher had to face to get to where she ended up.

Unfortunately, that's where my praise ends.

I'd say I know about as much of Britain's political history over the past 40 years as I know that of Canada, and it's probably in that light that I'm struggling to figure out what I was supposed to get out of this movie.  Was it supposed to show a side of Mrs. Thatcher that we hadn't seen before?  If so, I don't think it did.  We've known since she was Education Secretary in the Heath government that she's not one to be messed with, and it was that way all the way up until she was pushed out of office in 1990.

It may have given us an insight into what the present-day Thatcher may be like, being still as stubborn as she was then but with severe dementia.  That said, though, I think that was overdone.  Considering that half of the movie is supposed to show Mrs. Thatcher in the 2010s, while her husband Denis died in 2003, there was a little too much emphasis on him portrayed in the movie.  That's probably a sign that there was too much on the present-day Thatcher and not enough on Prime Minister Thatcher.  The movie also ended on a weird note, namely Denis walking into the light.

I will admit, though, that this thought could be largely personal.  My Great Grandmother had severe dementia in the seven or eight years before she passed away, and because of that, I found a good number of the dementia-Thatcher scenes difficult to watch.

Overall, while the acting by Meryl Streep was certainly worthy of an Oscar and a BAFTA, the rest left a lot to be desired, particularly in terms of the aim of the film.  I give it 3 stars.