Starring: Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent
Directed by Phyllida Lloyd
Rating: **
A former PM worried about the rising price of a pint of milk in her Alzheimer-ridden fading years; her rise from her “grocer’s daughter” station to occupy 10 Downing Street, The Iron Lady alternates between the present and the past to sketch the life and times of one of Britain’s most powerful and controversial prime ministers, Margaret Thatcher.
Beyond this narrative style and the rather light-hearted presence of her husband Dennis (who is actually not there), the film offers little by way of a unique perspective. Highlights of her regime—from the curbing of trade unionism to ira bombings and the Falklands War—are presented flat. The politics, problems and depth of argument are missing.
TIL is mostly a surface run, not so much about Thatcherism as on the ghosts of her past. It is about a powerful woman turning feeble, not an analysis of her power.
The hands, hair, teeth, gait, mannerisms and prosthetics all add up to give Streep the Thatcher look, but also lend her a Mrs Doubtfire feel.
Perhaps playing a character so fresh in memory comes with this inherent danger. I was left wondering whether it was not a mere impersonation, than considered interpretation, of the person.
