The Iron Lady (2011)

First off, this is an uncharitable film. I know, Margaret Thatcher is a divisive figure, but to emphasize her decent into dementia as a way to look back on her life seems unkind. If we are going to come out with an opinion of her, it should be based on her public persona, not on her end of life issues. I know, I am want to point out that Reagon was demented, but that was while he was in office, at which point his mental status does seem like it is fair game. Love her or hate her, she did not seem anything but mentally sharp when she was Britain's Prime Minister. The movie is best when focusing on the time that she was in her world famous role as Britain's head of the Conservative Party. Meryl Streep is spectacualrly successful at channeling the Thatcher of that era, which she carries off based on wardrobe and carriage rather than on the basis of physical similarities. It all begins with her humble beginnings as the proverbial "grocer's daughter from Grantham." She began on the lowest rungs of the Conservative Party and never paused in her climb--as the film depicts it, she woos her husband not so much with feminie charms, but rather he sees the gleam to succeed in her eye, and he wants a pieceof it ((James Broadbent plays this role spectacularly, as you would expect). Her ambition was unlimited, her strategy ruthless, her victims the least fortunate of England's society--as the economy collapsed around her, she remained steadfast, and more than a little oblivious. Was Thatcher a feminist triumph? I don't think so. She was just like any other world leader. Detached, sure of thier point of view, despite evidence to the contrary, and unwielding. The film really doesn't go there, in any case. And to a large extent, it doesn't go very far down any path. It is unkind to Thatcher without reason. It doesn't come down either for or against her. It is worthwhile to see Streep's performance, but that is where the vaule ends, in my opinion.