The Iron Lady

Margaret Thatcher, played by Meryl Streep.

     Rarely are foreign politics portrayed in the American film scene. There are large collections of movies created every year that reflect on the political success and failures of the American government. These range from outrageous comedies to thought provoking dramas, but, nonetheless, they have a common foundation. Every now and then, Hollywood cranks out an outlier in the political scene. The Iron Lady is a biography of sorts that portrays the life, success, and struggles of Maragret Thatcher, the first woman prime minister of Great Britain. This movie primarily focuses on the many prices she had to pay in order to even get a foot in the door of British Parliament, and later, the ones she had to pay to reach extreme political power. Through a collection of marvelous performances, brilliant cinematography, and resonating messages, The Iron Lady proves its gross superiority to others in its category.

     Margaret Thatcher was a right wing, British conservative who clawed her way up from being a grocer's daughter, to prime minister of Great Britain. She is one of the more controversial topics of British political discussion. Depending on your own political views, Ms. Thatcher could be viewed as a glorious hero, or as a hell-born demon. She brought about sweeping reform in the wake of an economic downturn, and in the process, drove the country nearly bankrupt, skyrocketing unemployment rates. For a while, her approval rating was at a meager 23% (the lowest recorded of any prime minister). Later on, as she executed more intense spending cuts and tax augmentations, the economy regulated and inflation fell to a low rate. However, all good things come to an end: when Margaret Thatcher's approval rating dipped once again, she was challenged for leadership of the Conservative party and promptly resigned.
     With the conclusion of the history lesson, we move on with the movie review. Politics is not my area of expertise, nor do I assume it ever will be. That said, This movie was able to deliver an enthralling performance and captivate me, even while being political-centric. Why? A number of things, actually. To begin with, the dialogue was incredible. There are times when viewing a movie that I become genuinely frustrated due to the poor choice of words and the stilted portrayal of emotions. Like poetry, movie dialogue (or any dialogue, for that matter) is meant to flow eloquently and capture the viewer. When the dialogue becomes truly life-like, the screenplay writer may take a well deserved bow, as their job has been completed flawlessly. Aside from the spectacular dialogue, the acting was not only Oscar-worthy, but extremely compelling. Meryl Streep was phenomenal. I stress "phenomenal" because when seeing The Iron Lady, I almost completely forgot that Meryl Streep was playing Margaret Thatcher and descended into a sweet insanity of being almost a part of the movie. In her performance, it was almost as if Ms. Streep was inviting me up to the screen and help her run Great Britain. It was truly sensational. The supporting actors also deserve an honorable mention, as their performances were also quite well done.
     The cinematography in this movie was excellent. All around: the direction, scenery, and setting were cohesive and well put together. Phyllida Lloyd was completely successful in her direction and set up. Political-based pictures generally have intelligent direction (like The Ides of March) and this movie lives up to the competition put out by others in its category.
     This movie has no climactic action scenes or repugnant sexual references but it still may not be the ideal movie for a younger audience. This movie requires the audience member to pay absolute attention to the motion picture and demands one to watch the pitiful struggles of a dementia-struck woman in her old age. Mental illness may not be gory, but it is certainly something that can be hard to handle and understand. This movie also explores the emotional damage brought on my mental problems, making it less practical for middle school students and below. High school students: if you are interested in politics and can handle some saddening moments, by all means, grab some tickets! Adults, I recommend you take a look at this movie as while Margaret Thatcher is one of the most important political names, it is also one of the more unheard of ones. Not only is this movie interesting, it is also educational.
     One thing to remember before seeing this movie is to set aside some time to clear out your mind of various thoughts and prejudices. This movie demands complete attention and needs its viewers to explore it empty handed. Also, those who are non-conservative and may be offended by some of Thatcher's political views, this movie should be viewed free from bias. It is about her political life, but it is also about feminism, poverty, and emotional turmoil in the presence of illness.

Ratings:
Direction: 3.5/4 - The direction was beautiful. There are some movies with better overall direction, but rest assured, it is anything but off-putting.
Casting: 3/4 - Meryl Streep looked so similar to Margaret Thatcher, it was eerie. Also, the supporting characters were well chosen for their roles.
Acting: 4/4 - Wow. Meryl Streep has already won Golden Globes for her performance and is sure to win an Oscar as well.
Effects/Art Direction: 2/4 - This movie was almost completely barren of effects and had very little art to direct in the first place. For the meager material in this category, it scores the best it could given how close to absent it was.
Promotion: 1/4 - I had no idea this movie existed until my sister brought it up. Something in her area was promoting it, but nothing I saw in the weeks leading up to my viewing it mentioned a movie about the prime minister of Great Britain. It's understandable, considering it was a rush-release (when a movie is released in small theaters before the end of the year, so it can be an Oscar nominee), but still, a commercial or trailer would have been nice.
Length: 4/4 - The Iron Lady tells a prolific woman's life story and manages to keep it within the safe 2 hour mark. I'm not quite sure how they were able to achieve this, but it is certainly genius.

Overall Rating: 3 STARS/ 4 STARS (Excellent!)

Here's the trailer: