The Iron Lady

Love her or loathe her, Margaret Thatcher was one of the most controversial political figures of the twentieth century. Her influence is still felt - no conservative politician can really establish themselves without being defined in some way by their relationship to her and her ideals. Everybody has an opinion on her, one way or the other. Everybody, that is, except it seems Phyllida Lloyd, the director of The Iron Lady.

So eager does the film seem to avoid being controversial that it ends up being nothing really. Why make a film about such a controversial figure and have nothing to say about them. In fact, the film can't really decide what it wants to be - it toys with the idea of being a love story, but Margaret and Dennis as Romeo and Juliet doesn't really fly. It glosses over most of the politics. What it comes closest to being is a film about dementia with the present day narrative framing, however it lacks the pathos of, say, Iris or Away From Her. Even the most dramatic moments, like the car-bombing of Airey Neave, somehow lack real drama.

As to the politics, everything is gone over so quickly that if you know nothing about the events or the policies, the film will leave you none the wiser. The 3-day week, the miners strike, the poll tax, the Brighton bombing are all referenced in shots, but hardly covered. The Falklands gets slightly more coverage, but if you know nothing about, say, the sinking of the Belgrano, you still won't after the film unless you go home and google it. In fact the film buys almost totally into the myth, both negative and positive, and makes no effort to get below the surface. We are offered one brief scene of a speech by her father as her political inspiration. The film makes her out to be even more groundbreaking than she was by having her as the only woman shown in any shot in the commons. It also comes close to making out that she was the reason for the Tories victory in 1979, whereas most polls at the times indicated that they won despite of rather than because of her.

All that said, this is not a badly made film. Its well-shot and on the whole well-acted. Meryl Streep is uncanny in her impersonation of Thatcher although there's not that much actual character to work with. Jim Broadbent is fun, although essentially playing Jim Broadbent, as Dennis. Elsewhere a host of familiar faces play a host of familiar faces. But it all feels ultimately purposeless.

Overall - 5.5/10 The most controversial thing about this film is how uncontroversial it is. Well shot and acted, but ultimately pointless and unsatisfying.