Annoying Flashbacks In The Iron Lady

Watching The Iron Lady is like seeing a documentary with annoying flashbacks. I would only wish that they just reduce all the flashbacks to just a couple, but then, I'm not a director! As a feminist, I would have loved to support a movie featuring one of our first women political leaders in history, and directed and written by women as well.

However, the movie is very mediocre. I wasn't surprised because director Phyllida Lloyd also directed Mamma Mia which I intensely dislike. The key takeaway from The Iron Lady is that no matter how smart and powerful a woman is, she, like others, has to face dementia and old age towards the end. There's a constant effort to make this production as poetic and tragic as Shakespeare's King Lear, but somehow it didn't quite work that way. The irony is that even though Thatcher was hated by so many Brits during her reign, what she has fought for turns out to be quite true now, e.g, her fierce reluctance to have Britain join the EU. Look what a mess the euro and Europe are in right now!

I've never doubted Merryl Streep of accomplishing just anything as an actor. And this movie is no exception. In fact, having just won the Best Actress Award at The Golden Globes, she's probably going to win another Oscar again. But like many other baby boomers, Streep should really contemplate stepping aside and making way for others to win awards. Otherwise, when would other brilliant, but younger, actors such as Michelle Williams stand any chance when they're competing with Streep? And do we have to sit through another look of shock and disbelief on her face again when the Awards presenters read out her name?

When I watched the film in Naples, Florida, the entire cinema audience applauded again, just like their reaction when watching The King's Speech  last year. Well, don't expect too much - I think North Americans, including Canadians, just can't help but adore anything British!