Doing a film about one of the most controversial prime ministers ever was always going to be a film that was going to cause issues. I went to see this film not really knowing what to expect. Meryl Streep’s performance has been heavily praised and the its one of the rare things where the voice and the look of Thatcher is pretty much spot on. When you watch Nixon with Anthony Hopkins the voice might not be there but there is something about his performance which makes you think Nixon. In The Iron Lady what we have are three stages of the former Prime Minister but the most notable is the first one we meet Thatcher she has managed to give her security the slip to buy milk. All the scenes where she is talking to the hallucination of her late husband was very sad and I felt at times uncomfortable watching it.
The story involves a large amount of flashbacks, starting when she is working at her fathers shop moving onto the point where she is elected to parliament and some of the events which occurred during her premiership that caused to her to be the figure that she became to be. I think that when I went into the screening I was thinking that events like the Falklands and the Poll Tax Riots would be given more of a important part of the story that it ultimately did. The one part of the film that I did find problematic was when that throughout the film she is meant to be suffering from dementia (which she really has although its not mentioned by name) and yet all she does is decide to get rid of Dennis’ stuff and she is better. I thought that wasn’t believable and was a bit of a duff way to end the film. Streep’s performance is brilliant and I wouldn’t be surprised if she receives significant award recognition. Jim Broadbent does well as Dennis and he does add some slight comedy relief. I say slight because after the initial laugh I remember that he is an hallucination but its still a good performance. Olivia Colman looks odd as Carol Thatcher but her performance is still very dignified and subtle.
The Iron Lady is an odd film but the performances are good enough to enjoy and whether you agree that they portray Thatcher as a good person or bad what’s important is this film a brave attempt to tell a story about one of the most powerful people in the country and how fragile they have become.
The story involves a large amount of flashbacks, starting when she is working at her fathers shop moving onto the point where she is elected to parliament and some of the events which occurred during her premiership that caused to her to be the figure that she became to be. I think that when I went into the screening I was thinking that events like the Falklands and the Poll Tax Riots would be given more of a important part of the story that it ultimately did. The one part of the film that I did find problematic was when that throughout the film she is meant to be suffering from dementia (which she really has although its not mentioned by name) and yet all she does is decide to get rid of Dennis’ stuff and she is better. I thought that wasn’t believable and was a bit of a duff way to end the film. Streep’s performance is brilliant and I wouldn’t be surprised if she receives significant award recognition. Jim Broadbent does well as Dennis and he does add some slight comedy relief. I say slight because after the initial laugh I remember that he is an hallucination but its still a good performance. Olivia Colman looks odd as Carol Thatcher but her performance is still very dignified and subtle.
The Iron Lady is an odd film but the performances are good enough to enjoy and whether you agree that they portray Thatcher as a good person or bad what’s important is this film a brave attempt to tell a story about one of the most powerful people in the country and how fragile they have become.
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