Directed by: Phyllida Lloyd
Starring: Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Distributed by: Anchor Bay
Release Date: April 10, 2012
Running Time: 105 minutes
Film: 4 out of 5 stars
Extras: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Well it’s very clear why Meryl Streep won the Oscar for her role in this film. It is also quite clear why it also won for Best Makeup, such a phenomenal job. Look at DiCaprio’s makeup hack job in “J. Edgar” and this look at this fantastic film for both Meryl Streep and Jim Broadbent, but very stunning. There were talks about this film that it didn’t show Margaret Thatcher in the best light. Instead of focusing on her wonderful political career and accomplishments, the story is said to focus on an older, senile and hallucinatory Thatcher. I actually really enjoy it, nonetheless. I feel it worked better as a film and less like a biopic. We all know her life story, I was excited to see Meryl Streep nail her as a character and tell an interesting story.
The story switches between an old Margaret Thatcher (Meryl Streep) and the confident Prime Minster and even a young adult Thatcher. We focus on Thatcher dealing with today’s world, which is much more different socially and technologically than she is familiar with. She spends time reflecting back to her past and and fighting with herself as she get spends time talking with her deceased husband (Broadbent). It also shows her rise to Prime Minster and some of the events with her in office. They don’t spend a lot of time in the politics but that is what I like most about this movie. It would have been safe to stick with politics but more risky to take another route. I commend them.
The Blu-ray presentation itself is also a thing of beauty. It features a wonderful 1080p high definition transfer, just looks fantastic. The audio is also very fantastic, where it is from the subtle dialogue to the explosions with its superior DTS-HD MA 5.1 track. Besides the Blu-ray disc, the release itself comes jam back with a DVD copy of the film and also a digital disc. I wish they would have left out the digital copy disc for an streaming Ultraviolet copy.
Unfortunately, the special features are not so glorious. I enjoyed them all but they are also are only in standard definition and run very short. The first extra is called “Making The Iron Lady” which features cast and crew as they talk about bringing Margaret Thatcher to the film. “Recreating the Young Margaret Thatcher” is a short feature that focuses on the role taken on by Alexandra Roach. “Denis: The Man Behind the Woman” is feature on Jim Broadbent. “Battle in the House of Commons” talk about shooting in locations. “Costume Design: Pearls and Power Suits” focuses on the work of Consolata Boyle. Lastly “History Goes to the Cinema” is a look into the following films and their real life stories “My Weeks with Marilyn”, “W.E.”, “Coriolanus”, “The Iron Lady”, and “The Artist”.