Margaret Thatcher biopic The Iron Lady arrives already bruised by fair criticism from across the pond; supporters who find it presumptuous the filmmakers show the former British Prime Minister struggling with loneliness and senility in her twilight years, detractors who think the portrait is too compassionate of someone who lacked that very quality while in public office. One assumes Thatcher herself would disapprove, since she was big on people showing what they were worth by their actions. In The Iron Lady, we get only an impressionistic sense of what she accomplished as the polarizing PM, with too much time spent on her private, later life, too little on her work. What no one’s debating is the quality of the performance, another tour de force from Meryl Streep. May as well give her the Oscar now.
This article appears in Jan 12-18, 2012.
I was 20 years old in 1981 when Thatcher was prime minister. She was
directly responsible for the murder of ten men, one of whom was a sitting
member of parliament. The member of parliament was Bobby Sands, who
died after a hunger strike of 66 days for prisoners basic human rights, and
for Irish independence. For this reason, I’m boycotting this film. I will not
see it nor download it.