Iron Lady

IRON LADY--Directed by Phyllida Lloyd/ Starring Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent/screenplay by Abi Morgan/1hr45min/PG-13

Bifocal Review by Barbara and Gordon Rich


(B) I know a lot of us are sick of hearing the name Meryl Streep announced as the recipient at these award shows, but the truth of the matter is that she is a magnificent actress. She did not disappoint in her latest performance as Margaret Thatcher, in Iron Lady. Jim Broadbent was also great and is very underrated in my opinion. I preferred their portrayals of the Thatcher’s personal life in this film over the political aspects. However, the film lacks something. It was too bland. It needed a shot of something, adrenaline to keep it moving. Great make-up on Streep, but I give this one only two binoculars. One binocular for each of the stars performances.

(G) I guess I’m one of those who Barbara is talking about when she said, “sick of hearing the name Meryl Streep.” She does get a lot of awards, but I don’t think she is as great as everyone says. It’s not that she is a bad actress, by any means. Unfortunately, most of the time I get the sense that she is forcing the character, trying too hard. In other words, I always feel like she is acting, rather than immersing herself in the portrayal. I have given her credit when I feel she’s adopted the character’s persona and hidden the fact the actress Meryl Streep is under the mask. For instance, in Julia & Julia I thought her performance was nearly perfect and said as much. Apparently, however she also liked playing Julia Child, so, much so in fact that the voice of Margaret Thatcher sounds comically similar in many scenes. That aside, I was also completely bored with the first twenty minutes of this movie. The whole thing really dragged for me. As for the script, nothing ever was resolved, when conflicts were presented. As for the make-up, I found it inconsistent. Sometimes you felt like you were looking at the Prime Minister. The next, it was obviously Meryl. I must say that Ms. Streep did a wonderful job enunciating with those fake teeth in her mouth. That was not the case when it came to the actress who played her daughter though. I’ll give this one a two, so that Barbara will speak to me later on. We certainly don’t see things the same on this one, but that’s the nature of a Bifocal Review.