There's little room for argument that Meryl Streep deserved the Best Actress for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher, but I couldn't help thinking that the movie itself was a bit of a hit piece on the conservative British Prime Minister. Instead of examining Thatcher's tenure as PM in detail, the story had more to do with her slide into dementia following the death of husband Denis (Jim Broadbent). If that was to be the focus of the movie, why call it "The Iron Lady"? The real Iron Lady dealt with the United Kingdom's fiscal irresponsibility and stood firm against colleagues and opponents alike during the Falklands crisis. She brought Britain's role in the world back to some semblance of authority while the rest of Europe preferred to (and still does) surrender sovereignty to a monolithic entity with little regard for the common man who votes their politicians into power. Thatcher's commitment to self reliance, independence and hard work is generally alluded to but never given the kind of recognition that would inspire a viewer to follow in her footsteps. Regarding the film makers' choice of Streep in the title role is akin to selecting Jane Fonda for the role of Nancy Reagan in Lee Daniels' "The Butler", that is to say, something of a poke in the eye toward Conservatives, considering Streep's own political views. What was kind of ironic in retrospect was something Lady Thatcher stated while running for the position of Prime Minister, as it relates to the recent election of our own current President. She said "It's time to put the 'Great' back into Great Britain". It sounded like something old that's become new again.

This drama film is a biopic of Margaret Thatcher. Most of the film is set in what was then the present day - with her as an octogenarian who had to retire from public life and is suffering from advanced dementia. There are flashbacks to various points in her life.I don't know why the makers chose to centre the film on her old age - the least interesting part of her life. The flashbacks give little context - and show far too little of her life prior to her becoming a politician. The flashbacks miss out crucial years and important points in her political career as well. A biopic should show an overview of the subject's whole life - and should be able to be understood and enjoyed by viewers from various backgrounds. This film is so inadequate that few viewers will know significantly more about her after seeing it than they knew before they saw it. In order to follow what's going on, you have to already know a lot about Thatcher - and people already knowledgeable about her won't learn much from this. To make matters worse, there are some significant historical inaccuracies in the film.The only reason that I haven't given this one is that Meryl Streep's performance is good.

I think it would have been very interesting to see how this film would have turned out had it been made my men. While Phyllida Lloyd and Abi Morgan call attention to Thatcher's gender, they ultimately don't make much of a statement about it. This is a poor choice considering the highly gendered nature of the political arena she is playing in. While I certainly do appreciate that attention paid to the subject - you can find countless films about male political and historical figures; women, not so much - I wish it had been done better. Gender seems to stump many filmmakers when it comes to women and politics, as demonstrated by Pablo Larrain's Jackie. As soon as the woman is not the supportive wife, people don't really know what to make of her. I hope that the lack of good features about women in politics doesn't stop future filmmakers from trying to make more films showcasing important women.

Mrs Thatcher was a divisive figure in British life. I had little time for the woman but my Thatcherite friends would deem this bio-pic with an Oscar winning performance by Merly Streep to be a lampoon made by people who did not like her.It is a vapid film filled with montages and flashbacks as it goes through her period as Prime Minister, adored by forty percent of the nation and despised by the other sixty.It is framed as an elderly Mrs Thatcher in the first stages of senility and well into drunkenness as she has imaginary conversations with her beloved Denis who passed away a few years earlier.We see her taking her first steps towards a male dominated Westminster but skates over the fact that there were other females MPs and other female Cabinet Ministers before her.In fact the film plays rather loose with the facts, the most unsavoury one being the politician Airey Neave being blown up by Irish terrorists and Mrs Thatcher rushing to the scene of the incident.It is a pallid production that was only made as Oscar bait for Meryl Streep who in her customary way transforms herself as Mrs Thatcher but I never believed in her.