The Iron Lady ***

Written by Andrew Hudak |

The Iron Lady

Is it worth $10? Yes

True to form, Meryl Streep doesn’t just play former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady,” she embodies her, in every way she can. The hair, the mannerisms, the walk, the voice (a bit reminiscent of her portrayal of Julia Child in “Julie and Julia”)—no detail goes unnoticed by Streep. She deserves every win and nomination she’s received for this performance, as well as the ones that are to come.

The film itself, while it’s not as flawless as Streep’s performance, is still good. Part of the issue is that “The Iron Lady” chooses to focus most of its attention on the personal sacrifices that Thatcher made in order to achieve political success. No doubt those details are important, but they’re only part of the story. The war in the Falklands, various IRA bombings, and her friendship with President Reagan are touched upon briefly--sometimes fleetingly. I wish the film would have taken the time to explore her political life as thoroughly as it did her personal life.

But that’s not what we get. The film starts with an elderly Thatcher, living a quiet life under watchful government protection. Helping her out is an assistant named June (Susan Brown), who is also worried about old Margaret because she’s seen Margaret talking to her deceased husband Denis (Jim Broadbent). This is the jumping off point for the flashbacks to begin, where we see young Margaret (Alexandra Roach) and young Denis (Harry Lloyd) fall in love.

The flashback structure in and of itself is fine, but it needs to be done with a sense of flow and continuity, which this film lacks. It starts off strong with the young versions of Denis and Margaret. It’s clear what year it is and where they are in their lives. But as time moves on in the flashbacks and Streep starts appearing as Thatcher instead of Roach, it gets confusing as to exactly what year it is and how much time has passed. I’m not saying that a year needed to flash on the screen every The Iron Lady time there was a flashback, but director Phyllida Lloyd should have found a way to make it clear how things progressed from one flashback to the next.

For example, in one flashback Margaret is a newly elected member of Parliament, the lone woman in a blue suit amongst a sea of men in black suits. There is an amusing montage where Margaret opens the door to a room marked “Members” only to find a line of men standing at urinals. She then finds the door marked “Lady Members” and opens it to find a chair and an ironing board.

From this flashback, I was expecting to see young Margaret’s formation as a young politician, climbing her way to the top of her party in spite of strong opposition. Instead, we go right into Meryl Streep as middle-aged Margaret, who has already made it to the position of Education Secretary. Were there no amusing stories or anecdotes to tell about Margaret’s time as a regular cabinet member, except for walking into the wrong restroom? I doubt it, but it’s all the “The Iron Lady” offers.

Even the scenes with elderly Margaret could use a time stamp. The audience is apparently supposed to know that Denis passed away in 2003, and there is no indication of the year that the scenes where she imagines him take place. There is talk of a portrait of her being unveiled, so it might be 2009 (but I only know this because I looked it up on Wikipedia.

It’s one thing to create an interesting and compelling story about a prominent person’s rise to power, which makes people want to go out and learn more on their own. It’s another thing entirely to be so fuzzy on the details that they’re forced to. While the timeline could have been much clearer, and more attention could—and should--have been paid to her political life, the film does offer an engaging look at the woman behind “The Iron Lady,” and if you’re interested in that, it’s worth seeing. If not, see it for Streep’s portrayal. She is nothing short of amazing.