Official Movie Website Theatrical Release 01/13/2011 Home Video Not Available MPAA Rating Rated PG-13 for some violent images and brief nudity Running Time 105 Minutes Genre Drama Director Phyllida Lloyd Writer Michael Hirst Cast Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent, Alexandra Roach, Harry Lloy, Olivia Colman, Nicholas Farrell, Susan Brown, Roger Allam, Anthony Head, Julian Wadham, Pip Torrens, Nick Dunning, Richard E Grant, David Westhead, Angus Wright, John Sessions Studio The Weinstein Company |
THE IRON LADY (2011-2012)
SYNOPSIS
The Iron Lady is a surprising and intimate portrait of
Margaret Thatcher (Meryl Streep), the first and only
female Prime Minister of The United Kingdom. One of
the 20th century's most famous and influential women,
Thatcher came from nowhere to smash through
barriers of gender and class to be heard in a male
dominated world. -- (C) Weinstein
The Iron Lady is a surprising and intimate portrait of
Margaret Thatcher (Meryl Streep), the first and only
female Prime Minister of The United Kingdom. One of
the 20th century's most famous and influential women,
Thatcher came from nowhere to smash through
barriers of gender and class to be heard in a male
dominated world. -- (C) Weinstein
© 2003 St. Louis Movie Review Weekly. All rights reserved, except where indicated.
All movie titles, pictures, etc...are the property of their respective studios.
All movie titles, pictures, etc...are the property of their respective studios.
| ST. LOUIS MOVIE REVIEW WEEKLY |
The Iron Lady is a film based on the controversial life of the 1980’s British Prime Minister,
Margaret Thatcher (brilliantly played by the talented Meryl Streep). The film, however, does not
focus on the history of Thatcher but more on the speculation of her dementia. With a somewhat
inexperienced director, Phyllida Lloyd, who really only has one good film under her belt, (Mamma
Mia, 2008) and a TV screenwriter, Abi Morgan, who also is only credited with one good film
(Shame, 2011) this movie is definitely lacking when it comes to its story. If it wasn’t for the
performance given by Streep this movie would have most likely missed the Oscar radar
completely. The film starts with an aged Thatcher talking to her deceased husband (played by Jim
Broadbent) and then uses flashbacks to tell about a few of the events that happened during her
reign as the first female British Prime Minister. Since the movie only briefly touches on some of
the important events that Thatcher dealt with the audience is not able to get an accurate picture of
her as an important historical figure; however, due to Streep’s outstanding performance the
audience is able to get a feel for what Thatcher was like personally. Overall the movie is
somewhat boring, moves very slowly, extremely choppy and completely misses the mark. The
only thing that makes this movie worth seeing is simply Streep’s portrayal of “Thatcher, the Milk
Thatcher” (another nickname given to Thatcher because she cut the free milk program from the
public schools); yet, unless you researched Thatcher yourself you wouldn’t know that fact along
with many of the other facts that helped her obtain the name, the Iron Lady, so while Streep may
have done a good job portraying the Iron Lady, the movie itself does not live up to its title.
Margaret Thatcher (brilliantly played by the talented Meryl Streep). The film, however, does not
focus on the history of Thatcher but more on the speculation of her dementia. With a somewhat
inexperienced director, Phyllida Lloyd, who really only has one good film under her belt, (Mamma
Mia, 2008) and a TV screenwriter, Abi Morgan, who also is only credited with one good film
(Shame, 2011) this movie is definitely lacking when it comes to its story. If it wasn’t for the
performance given by Streep this movie would have most likely missed the Oscar radar
completely. The film starts with an aged Thatcher talking to her deceased husband (played by Jim
Broadbent) and then uses flashbacks to tell about a few of the events that happened during her
reign as the first female British Prime Minister. Since the movie only briefly touches on some of
the important events that Thatcher dealt with the audience is not able to get an accurate picture of
her as an important historical figure; however, due to Streep’s outstanding performance the
audience is able to get a feel for what Thatcher was like personally. Overall the movie is
somewhat boring, moves very slowly, extremely choppy and completely misses the mark. The
only thing that makes this movie worth seeing is simply Streep’s portrayal of “Thatcher, the Milk
Thatcher” (another nickname given to Thatcher because she cut the free milk program from the
public schools); yet, unless you researched Thatcher yourself you wouldn’t know that fact along
with many of the other facts that helped her obtain the name, the Iron Lady, so while Streep may
have done a good job portraying the Iron Lady, the movie itself does not live up to its title.
By Brenda S. Ladd
