The Iron Lady (2011)

“Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Watch your words, for they become actions. Watch your actions, for they become habits. Watch your habits, for they become your character. And watch your character, for it becomes your destiny. What we think, we become. My father always said that. And I think I am fine. ” – Margaret Thatcher

Number of Times Seen – 2 (5 Feb 2012 and 6 May 2018)

Brief Synopsis – Biopic of the political and personal life of  the first Female British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher.

My Take on it – This is a film that I recall seeing not long after it came out but I didn’t remember much about it besides the amazing performance by Meryl Streep.

She was very deserving of her third Oscar statue for this role because she is truly able to disappear into the persona of Dame Thatcher and it’s so easy to forget who is under all of the makeup.

The problem of this film is that the story is told in a very disorientating and non-linear fashion.

Instead of telling a biographical account of her life, we get bits and pieces as she reflects on events of er past as they relate to her present.

This makes the film jump around too much and unfortunately due to time constraints they can’t devote enough time to certain events and instead gloss over as much as they can.

The seperate vignettes feel squeezed together too firmly and in the end, it seems as if it hurries through her life instead of giving us something more interesting.

Perhaps those more familiar with Thatcher’s life, both personal and professional would be able to glean much more form this story than I was able to.

This film tried too hard to get as much into the story as possible and in doing so it all feels crammed in without spending enough time focusing on those events.

This might have been much more interesting if they had chosen a particular story of her life and expanded on just one or two events.

Pity..

Bottom Line – Amazing performance by Streep who disappears into the role of Thatcher. The story is told too disjointedly and in a very non-linear fashion which takes away from the story.  Perhaps people who are more familiar with her life and history would glean more from this movie but I, for one, was quite disappointed in the way that they present the story. They try to take too many aspects of her life and aren’t able to devote enough time to the various vignettes to make it so much more interesting.

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Meryl Streep was named Best Actress of the Year at the Academy Awards for her performance as Margaret Thatcher in this film. The Oscar was presented to her by Colin Firth who was named Best Lead Actor the year before for his performance as King George VI in The King’s Speech (2010). Streep subsequently presented Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role to Daniel Day-Lewis for his performance as Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln (2012). So in a span of three years, lead acting Oscars were awarded for portrayals of the King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth and Emperor of India, the British Prime Minister and the President of the United States. (From IMDB)

Rating – BAFTA Worthy (5/10)

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