THE IRON LADY boasts a wonderful central performance by Meryl Streep as Baroness Thatcher; she is wholly convincing at capturing the politician's peculiar vocal inflections. The most interesting aspect of Phyllida Lloyd's film is the way it portrays Mrs. Thatcher as driven by hubris - despite her humble origins, she remained convinced of the rightness of her cause, even when she was manifestly wrong. This was especially the case in 1990, when she was forced to resign as leader of the Conservative Party over her support for the Poll Tax. The film shows how she rode roughshod over any objections raised by her Cabinet, even when they were probably right to object. With this knowledge in mind, we do not feel much sympathy for her when she is shown as a lonely elderly lady, without the support of her husband Denis (Jim Broadbent), and trying and failing to fend for herself. The supporting performances in this film are colorless, sometimes veering towards the grotesque (Richard E. Grant's Michael Heseltine is particularly guilty in this respect). But the film belongs to Streep and her towering central characterization.
Review of The Iron Lady
