THE IRON LADY is a surprising and intimate portrait of Margaret Thatcher (Two-time Oscar® winner Meryl Streep), the first and only female Prime Minister of The United Kingdom. One of the 20th century’s most famous and influential women, Thatcher came from nowhere to smash through barriers of gender and class to be heard in a male-dominated world.

• Amazon Sales Rank: #442 in DVD
• Running time: 105 minutes

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Phyllida Lloyd, who directed Meryl Streep in Mamma Mia!, takes a less exuberant tack in this unexpectedly poignant biopic. In the script, written by Shame's Abi Morgan, Lloyd depicts the elderly Dame Thatcher (Streep in a thoroughly convincing performance) as a frail figure replaying key moments in her life while her mind still continues to function. Her trajectory begins with grocer Alfred Roberts (Downton Abbey's Iain Glen), who became the mayor of Grantham, instilling in his daughter, Margaret (Alexandra Roach), a passion for politics. After graduating from Oxford, she felt ready to enter the fray, at which point she met Denis Thatcher (Harry Lloyd), who cheered her along on the road from Parliament to 10 Downing Street, where they lived during her time as Britain's first female prime minister (Jim Broadbent portrays the grey-haired and ghostly Denis). While closing mines, dodging IRA hits, and overseeing a war, the blue-clad titan built alliances with Airey Neave (Nicholas Farrell) and Geoffrey Howe (Anthony Head), but she would lose them both. If her will was strong, she had no time for feminine niceties like conciliation and forgiveness. The film goes on to suggest that she never cultivated the kinds of female friendships that might have sustained her in retirement, though her daughter (Tyrannosaur's Olivia Colman) did what she could. Instead, Denis remained her closest confidante until his departure, after which she had nothing but fading memories. The upshot is an uneasy combination of admiration for her leadership qualities and disappointment in her interpersonal skills. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

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31 of 33 people found the following review helpful.
Astonishing Performance
By Poogy
I was fortunate to see a screening of The Iron Lady, and can report that expectations that Meryl Streep's performance is incredible are fully justified. Having seen her in many roles, this was not surprising--she's widely regarded as one of the greatest living actresses--but her transformation here into an elderly woman, including the accent, the makeup, the attitudes and personality, is nothing short of astonishing. Thatcher's very conservative politics and abrasive manner are of course very controversial--and this portrayal of them is very timely. But regardless of the viewer's politics, I can't imagine anyone watching this and not feeling he or she has seen something remarkable.

The story of Thatcher's life is told through a series of flashbacks experienced by the woman long after she left office as the British prime minister with the longest tenure of the 20th century, and its first woman PM. We see how she entered politics, met her husband, rose to power, earned the Iron Lady nickname, and was pushed from office by her own party. For those unfamiliar with her life and politics, it's educational, at least superficially. An attempt is made to deviate from the straightforward biopic format by having Thatcher's mind failing during her old age, resulting in hallucinations about her deceased husband punctuating the film. This device is effective, but still, this is a not-quite-conventional movie about the life of one historical figure, made interesting primarily by Streep's stunning ability to inhabit her subject, and thereby not only cause us to appreciate Streep's art, but also feel at least a little compassion for an aging woman no longer in power.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful.
A movie maker's ambivalence about her subject.
By Anthony Sanchez
I saw this movie last night and I was looking forward to seeing it. I don't count myself as a fan of Thatcher's politics, but I do admire her as a person. She had an important role in the fall of the Soviet states and in transforming the American political role in the world. Therefore, I hoped to enjoy a biographical movie that of course would include much of the usual literary license that is part of the Hollywood operation.

What I got, though, left me empty. The role of Thatcher was certainly well performed by Streep and there is nothing for me to add from what others have stated and will state. I'm sure she will obtain another Oscar nomination. If that is all that interests you in movie going, then enjoy! But for those of you with more of an intellectual side, I would suggest waiting for the DVD to rent.

The central problem I believe is that the makers wanted to portray the strong, independent woman, but I have to believe that they dislike her politics and they could not allow a movie viewer the opportunity to agree with the conservatism of Thatcher-especially in a presidential election year. They missed no chance to attach a failure (implied or factual) for any Thatcher success and if that wasn't enough, they portrayed her as a lonely, dementia suffering, old woman for whom time has left behind and for whom the political world has completely forgotten. Here is what troubled me the most; this is a movie about an important political ally for whom one would be ashamed to show the movie to that person. Well, one Should be ashamed anyways.

What also troubles me is that Streep has too much say so in her movies at this stage of her career. She should have stepped in and said, "Enough with these hallucinations, let's show more of this woman's actual career!" Too bad she did not.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful.
"I have done battle every single day of my life."
By E. Bukowsky
Some reviewers have panned "The Iron Lady," directed by Phyllida Lloyd from a screenplay by Abi Morgan. They resent the filmmakers' portrayal of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, one of the most controversial political figures of the twentieth century, as an elderly woman in decline. Lloyd shows Thatcher having hallucinations, during which she converses with her departed husband, Denis. She is forgetful, distracted, and lives more in the past than in the present. Other critics have suggested that "The Iron Lady" gives short shrift to Thatcher's political career, placing too much emphasis on her personality and her relationship with family and colleagues.

It is unfair to condemn the movie that Lloyd and Morgan should have made. "The Iron Lady" is not meant to be a conventional biopic that focuses solely on how Thatcher's conservative policies affected Great Britain between 1979 and 1990. Lloyd and Morgan have a different purpose in mind--to examine what drove Margaret Roberts to embark on a political career; the difficulties she faced juggling marriage, parenthood, and her busy work schedule; and the price that she (and some might say her country) paid for her stubborn adherence to what she considered to be non-negotiable principles. We observe Thatcher's life through the prism of her memories, as she recalls events from her girlhood, courtship with Denis, and turbulent years in office.

Meryl Streep is exceptional as Margaret Thatcher. Her facial expressions, carriage, and voice perfectly convey Thatcher's ambition, single-mindedness, and determination. Streep also reveals her subject's flaws: Thatcher could be petty, unfeeling, and domineering. The most poignant and memorable scenes depict Mrs. Thatcher more than two decades after she retired as frightened, confused, lonely, and preoccupied with bygone events. Jim Broadbent is superb as Denis, who applauded his wife's triumphs but resented her bossiness and obstinacy. There are wonderfully humorous moments and some scenes that may reduce the audience to tears. The movie is not perfect. At times the script and the score are heavy-handed and manipulative. However, most viewers will understand if not empathize with the grocer's daughter who attended Oxford and went on to govern Great Britain for over a decade. Right or wrong, she was destined to make history.