I saw The Iron Lady at a packed WGA screening this past weekend. As a Meryl Streep fan and someone who appreciated Phyllida Lloyd's work on Mamma Mia, I was really looking forward to this film.
The result for me was... a mild disappointment.
Let's start with Streep's performance. She is, as always, amazing. Seconds after the movie started, the audience gasped audibly at an astounding close-up of her looking uncannily like an older Thatcher. From that point on, she becomes the character and she IS the film. Her voice, her physical presence, her ability to communicate subtly under layers and layers of latex make-up is nothing short of jaw-dropping. She will undoubtedly be nominated for an Oscar and possibly win for the third time and, of course, she more than deserves it. I could go on and on, but I'm sure the reader gets the picture.
Now a little about the film.
The Iron Lady felt to me more like a one-woman show than a dramatic movie. Its star is at the center of every scene and you can't take your eyes off her. The rest of the characters come and go, always effectively portrayed, but this is without any question a film that centers on a performance more than on a story. This made it at times fascinating and at times plain redundant as the audience is quite familiar with the historical events it depicts and the film, quite frankly, doesn't add anything new to what everyone already knows or imagines.
It occurred to me that the film would have been far more interesting, story-wise, if it had centered on a single episode in Thatcher's life that was evocative of what she was about. Instead, the film goes on and on from one famous episode to the next, with notorious characters dropping in and out, and famous speeches being scrupulously re-enacted. It is admirable in its recreation of a career but hardly revealing. But that, as they say, is the movie I wanted, not the movie it is.
When The Iron Lady plays on TV on some future date and I happen upon it while channel-surfing, I will probably stop and gasp again at its amazing actress' performance. With any other performance at its center, I would probably move on to the next station.
The result for me was... a mild disappointment.
Let's start with Streep's performance. She is, as always, amazing. Seconds after the movie started, the audience gasped audibly at an astounding close-up of her looking uncannily like an older Thatcher. From that point on, she becomes the character and she IS the film. Her voice, her physical presence, her ability to communicate subtly under layers and layers of latex make-up is nothing short of jaw-dropping. She will undoubtedly be nominated for an Oscar and possibly win for the third time and, of course, she more than deserves it. I could go on and on, but I'm sure the reader gets the picture.
Now a little about the film.
The Iron Lady felt to me more like a one-woman show than a dramatic movie. Its star is at the center of every scene and you can't take your eyes off her. The rest of the characters come and go, always effectively portrayed, but this is without any question a film that centers on a performance more than on a story. This made it at times fascinating and at times plain redundant as the audience is quite familiar with the historical events it depicts and the film, quite frankly, doesn't add anything new to what everyone already knows or imagines.
It occurred to me that the film would have been far more interesting, story-wise, if it had centered on a single episode in Thatcher's life that was evocative of what she was about. Instead, the film goes on and on from one famous episode to the next, with notorious characters dropping in and out, and famous speeches being scrupulously re-enacted. It is admirable in its recreation of a career but hardly revealing. But that, as they say, is the movie I wanted, not the movie it is.
When The Iron Lady plays on TV on some future date and I happen upon it while channel-surfing, I will probably stop and gasp again at its amazing actress' performance. With any other performance at its center, I would probably move on to the next station.