1-19-12 Movie Review: The Iron Lady

Click Image to Enlarge

Meryl Streep’s performance in The Iron Lady is unquestionably one of the greatest ever put of film. She plays a strong woman who cannot admit to herself or anybody else that Alzheimer’s disease is robbing her of her powers; she is so certain that she is the only one who is absolutely RIGHT about everything that it is her God-given obligation to remain in power and refuse to compromise on anything whatsoever, an inconvenient belief in a supposedly democratic country which increasingly opposes her. She’s not a likeable person, but there is no questioning her sincerity and dedication to her public job. You feel with her so strongly that it doesn’t matter, dramatically, whether you agree or sympathize.

It’s a great performance, unfortunately in a less-than-great picture.

Margaret Thatcher was prime minister of England in some very important years, and The Iron Lady tells us almost nothing about her country or her times. What do we Americans know about the Falkland Islands, which she is so determined to get back no matter what the odds? Why is she so determined to refuse Ireland the independence that has always been treated sympathetically in our movies? Why do the British allow a woman in her condition to remain in office? I read that English reviewers regard The Iron Lady as libelous, and wonder how we would feel about one of their movies treating Ronald Reagan this way.