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The Iron Lady

The Iron Lady

2011
Drama, Biography
1h 45m
A look at the life of Margaret Thatcher (Meryl Streep), the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, with a focus on the price she paid for power. (imdb)
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The Iron Lady

2011
Drama, Biography
1h 45m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 34.17% from 1225 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(1225)
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Rated 07 Feb 2012
35
19th
Streep's powerhouse performance can't make up for confusing, sloppy storytelling. How did Thatcher rise to power as the first female leader of a western democracy? What drove her? How did she maintain power for 11 years - and what caused her fall? These central questions are only remotely addressed making the main character utterly uninteresting - and that's the real controversy. As a result 'The Iron Lady' is poorly conceived both as a film and a history lesson.
Rated 05 Feb 2012
5
22nd
Weak star-vehicle checklisting the british prime minister's most famous historical passages with hardly any insight. Should be noted for turning an intriguing and hugely dividing political story and subject into soporific blandness.
Rated 06 Jan 2013
7
1st
Only good for unintentional comedy value. Streep is a caricature. The film covers a list of required biopic moments but we get no closer to getting insight on Thatcher or what made her tick. The film makes no real statement on her politics but instead endorses her actions as a great push forward for feminism. Fucking Bullshit.
Rated 12 Feb 2012
30
5th
Guess there is nothing wrong with Meryl -- at least she's not overacting --, but Phyllida's approach is hardly an informative or courageous -- as it should be -- portrait or MT. Instead, it treats the former Prime Minister of UK as a sweet public figure who happened to be chosen to take the tough decisions for the happiness of her people. Few good ideas, lots of sloppy emotional, mourning scenes. Totally incoherent.
Rated 27 Dec 2011
80
62nd
Streep's astonishing portrayal of Thatcher carries uneven film; skimps on her political impact and decisions and instead focuses on her story of a glass ceiling breaker, told touchingly looking back as a dementia sufferer. Unfortunately heavy-handed directorial choices and a fairly obvious screenplay diminish the film's impact somewhat, and odd ommissions (her legendary battles with Queen Elizabeth) makes it less satisfying than it ought to be. Definitely worth-while for Meryl's 100 performance!
Rated 10 Mar 2012
55
39th
Streep and the make-up stand out. Wait just one second... did the Academy get something right?
Rated 10 Feb 2012
40
18th
If the movie was starred by a regular actress or even a good one, but not so good as Streep, this movie wouldn't have anything interesting at all. Not the way it's constructed, the story or how it's told, not the honesty on it. Meryl Streep is not just the Iron Lady in the movie, but an iron lady that supports all the weight of this film. I think she was just expecting to do this character and once they gave her a regular screenplay for it, she accepted. Without her, nobody would talk about it.
Rated 03 Aug 2017
25
5th
The Iron Lady is a glaringly superficial effort which sidesteps many of the achievements and controversies surrounding a hugely divisive figure in British politics in favour of fawning, mawkish sentimentality. A poor script and awkward structure further damage its dramatic ambitions, and though Streep does a decent Thatcher impression, her performance is hardly worth the universal acclaim it was afforded.
Rated 09 Mar 2012
70
29th
It's so sad because Meryl streep's performance is absolutely brillant.
Rated 31 Jan 2012
65
40th
It's certainly well made and well acted. Meryl convinces as Maggie and I think they nicked some of Carol Thatcher's wardrobe for Olivia Colman to wear. However, the film just doesn't show the controversy provoked by Thatcher, or really why she was ousted. An interesting curio with strong acting, no more
Rated 08 Jun 2013
15
7th
Extremely superficial and cliched biopic, full of empty platitudes and cheap manipulations, and cowardly in its avoidance of any idea meaningful enough to be contentious. The Iron Lady boasts a single strength: Accurate impressions of Thatcher and her hubby Denis by actresses Streep and Roach, actor Broadbent and the makeup crew. It is otherwise a film nearly as abysmal as the premiership of the woman it portrays.
Rated 22 Dec 2011
25
61st
"Surely no one expected this movie to be masterful, as Streep has made it rather clear that she's not much interested in working with filmmakers whose talents might outshine her own." - R. Kurt Osenlund
Rated 28 Feb 2014
40
18th
Streep's performance and a fine story framing aside, this was basically a mediocre, toothless and horrendously pathos-filled dramatization of Thatcher's Wikipedia site, failing both as a character study and more critically as a history lesson.
Rated 14 Jan 2012
14
17th
when will you die, maggie?!
Rated 22 Jan 2012
55
6th
I think people can agree that Meryl is pretty good throughout, but as a whole this film isn't very good. Namely I don't understand why they chose to tell the story in this way, when so many exciting things happened to Thatcher and England in the 80's. It sucks to be watching these moments of history just to be torn out and thrown into another delusion.
Rated 12 Apr 2012
74
40th
Meryl Streep is perfect as Thatcher. Incredible how she can humanize even people she doesn't necessarily like. Well deserved Oscar, as usual.
Rated 17 Jun 2012
31
21st
The hallucinatory framing device is touching but serves no purpose other than to build cheap sympathy for the subject. This film skims over most of the politics, and some might say that this makes it neutral or even-handed. But nothing about the Thatcher of the film is interesting enough to justify her central role, *except* the fact that she was Prime Minister. Focusing mainly on her character therefore seems like empty lionization.
Rated 04 Mar 2012
48
7th
Well, it's again a typical Oscar movie. Don't get me wrong, the performance from Streep is 120% on-the-spot, but the movie just doesn't have a proper plot and editing. In the end it felt as I was watching a documentary of the British politics for the Thatcher era with some annoying clips of an old dement lady in between. It should have been better if the movie was just a documentary.
Rated 20 Jan 2012
69
19th
One of Streep's best performances. She deserves every bit of acclaim she gets. Now to the film: I was too young and not British to know much of anything about Thatcher beyond the fact that she was an extremely controversial figure, so I value the education this gave me. The rest of the film is a mess. I know, I know, people are tired of cookie cutter biopics, but that's the film's problem: it's too self-aware. It tries so desperately to be something fresh, but it's just all over the map.
Rated 08 May 2012
29
19th
Nothing to admire here in terms of directoral flair! The whole film is utterly uninspired. Streep props it up with a great piece of mimicry, & Colemans performance (terrible nose prosthetic aside) as Britains resident villiage idiot Carol Thatcher is admirable. The main issue is that this movie is so spineless. A movie about MT should be controversial, but Lloyd instead tries to show us a monsters human side. Amazingly the result is a movie almost as insulting to Thatcher as it is to the viewer!
Rated 05 Feb 2012
67
47th
It wasn't overly meaningful, but a fantastic performance by Meryl Streep. I thought it was enjoyable because it wasn't overly political or about Thatcher's career, instead it was about a powerful woman and a reflection of her life. That said, there were no major enlightenments that really wow'd me with this film.
Rated 16 Feb 2012
33
25th
So much energy is expended on trying to get the audience to sympathize with Thatcher, major historical events and personalities are glossed over. Reagan, Gorbachev, Scargill, the 1987 crash, Pinochet etc. are erased or barely mentioned. Streep is one of the best actresses alive so this gets a mediocre score off the back of her performance alone. Broadbent gets pretty annoying.
Rated 03 Jun 2012
61
54th
A very big disappointment. The script was quite terrible indeed, showing no depth and offering almost no insight as to the 'why' of almost any action or event. Granted, Streep's achievement is good, but not excellent and certainly not worth the Oscar.
Rated 22 Feb 2012
35
7th
The flashbacks show Streep in terrific (and terrifying) form (though with a lot of help from her make-up department). As for the rest of the film: derivative, redundant, exhaustive and -mostly- just plain ridiculous.
Rated 13 Feb 2012
72
28th
A film made great by Streep's performance. The film focuses heavily on Thatcher, mainly during her earliest years of trying to enter parliament and her twilight years after her fall from power. I would have liked the film to dwell more on the interesting periods of her premiership, such as the Miners' Strike and her fall from power, both of which were glossed over.
Rated 14 Dec 2012
59
12th
So... what do we learn? That Alzheimer and dead husbands are not as funny as holidays at the beach?
Rated 09 Mar 2012
50
17th
A spectacular performance by Meryl Streep (who DID deserve the Oscar) does not rescue this middling, cheesy, timid biopic to anything other than what should have been a Lifetime Original Movie.
Rated 23 May 2012
60
71st
Watchable but somewhat pointless account of Thatcher's descent into Alzheimer's, using her flashbacks to outline what she sees as the important moments of her personal and professional life. Streep is predictably the best thing in it (there have been better Maggie 'impersonations' however none brought this warmth to the role) but even with her presence it still feels like a Sunday night, BBC4 job rather than an Oscar-winning theatrical release.
Rated 30 May 2013
50
27th
I wish there was more about politics.
Rated 23 Feb 2012
60
57th
Streep is absolutely amazing and there are enough interesting things to make an above average biopic.
Rated 17 Feb 2013
38
21st
Well made but it's poorly structured and ends up being scattered.
Rated 07 Feb 2012
60
62nd
Streep is awesome as Thatcher but as for the film trying to get some sympathy toward Thatcher portraying her as "human" like the rest of us.....don't make me laugh!. Thatcher was a monster....nuff said.
Rated 14 Apr 2012
60
29th
The movie was perfect setup for Meryl Streep to win yet another Oscar. I felt the story was bit weak and could have been definitely better. Well the movie gets a higher rating than what I would have just for Meryl Streeps acting.
Rated 07 Jan 2013
4
6th
Disappointing and dull. everything was skimmed over, nothing (personal or political) was explored in any depth.
Rated 17 Dec 2011
67
32nd
once again great acting from Streep.. I wish they had used a simpler way of storytelling, there are too many flashbacks that dont work, the editing is so much calculated and engineered, emotional flow is a bit ignored
Rated 20 Nov 2013
33
32nd
Apparently unable to find any drama or worthwhile story in the actual recorded life of Margaret Thatcher, the incredibly bold screenwriter decided to just make one up. The writer's story (essentially a fanfic of a Thatcher in her final years) cuts to flashbacks that give us only hurried montage after hurried montage of her actual life. It has the lovely period sets and astounding performances of the Kings Speech, and The Madness of King George, but lacks the tremendous scripts those movies had.
Rated 12 Mar 2012
50
4th
disgusting
Rated 03 Feb 2015
30
16th
Margaret Thatcher, you are so boring.
Rated 04 Feb 2012
75
65th
The present-day focus and flashback structure was uninteresting and very misguided. Thankfully, though there wasn't enough of it, that showing Thatcher's rise and reign was often great, and Streep gives an amazing performance. Not getting a more politically submerged film is disappointing though - for all its back and forth, The Iron Lady never forces its audience to consider right and wrong. And I think you have a right to expect that from a biopic about such a controversial political figure.
Rated 23 May 2023
5
3rd
Eric Andre has a question for you
Rated 13 Feb 2012
70
55th
A great interpretation of Meryl Streep supports the weak script and transforms it into a powerful human portrait
Rated 08 May 2012
31
19th
So very British--and that is not a good thing. Meryl Streep gives us yet another meticulous accent and voice transformation as the aged Thatcher, making us painfully aware of every grain of her craft. Every mundane element of her daily life leads to a new, insightful flashback, full of "meaning", each one elucidatng less of Thatcher's personality than the one before. Finally, when we see Thatcher at the height of her political power, do we see some of the fire that makes Streep great. Awful.
Rated 05 Apr 2012
65
27th
I wanted more historical perspective and a deeper analyses of Thachter. Pity. Streep is superb as always.
Rated 06 Oct 2016
12
3rd
Watched it in '14. Really disliked it! Streep's good, everything else is a snooze.
Rated 24 Feb 2012
55
58th
Meryl Streep is great, as usual, but the film leaves you wanting more.
Rated 22 Jan 2012
61
17th
With apologies to Madame Streep, I found it dry, and forgettable...
Rated 17 Feb 2012
60
30th
Not quite the fluff peice I feared. Found it a bit tasteless framing the film around a senile old woman hallucinating her dead husband, but beside that it's fine. Streep is perfect as always, I felt for Maggie in the first half hour when she was young. But beyond that...hasn't changed my opinion on the woman. But I'm Scottish.
Rated 12 Apr 2015
72
61st
Die eiserne Lady, Margaret Thatcher
Rated 29 Apr 2012
80
33rd
Who can say what really know what goes on during the years some endure as Alzheimer's. Lady Thatcher is a great inspiration to many, love her or hate her she is respected by many. She has historically moved an economic super power for the better regardless of the ethics of how it was done. She accomplished more than what we see by leaders do these days. I enjoyed the moments capturing her strengths. The movie's best attribute is Streep's ability to become the character.
Rated 10 Feb 2013
78
57th
The performance is as good as Streep has ever been, and isn't that the entire purpose of this film? She doesn't ape MT perfectly but becomes her own, wholly believable version of the character. Aside from Meryl, I also enjoyed the fragmented structure, the supporting cast, and the script, even if it did try and inevitably fail to properly cover an event-packed career and life. History can tell us the facts, but this is the Meryl show - roll up and get cosy because this lady's not for hamming!
Rated 09 Feb 2012
20
9th
Sentimental clap-trap.
Rated 27 Sep 2013
84
47th
Brilliant performance; reasonable film difficult to do well. Interesting take and well worth watching.
Rated 07 May 2012
50
5th
A complete waste of time. Out of many interesting things there could have been in a movie about Thatcher, the director has decided to spend half of the movie showing Meryl Streep walking slowly from one place to another talking to his dead husband. Seriously!! Watching this, Thatcher looks like a boring asshole. Just watching a five minute YouTube video of Thatcher speaking, gives you more information than this two hour "Drama".
Rated 14 Dec 2014
40
5th
I watched this film to learn more about Thatcher's life as prime minister and how she got there. So discovering that more than half of the film is about her last years slipping into dementia was disappointing. The acting is great, as could be expected ... what a waste of talent !
Rated 24 Feb 2012
1
9th
Excruciatingly boring.
Rated 21 Oct 2012
55
20th
Fuck this was boring
Rated 10 Sep 2012
66
49th
Zumindest für mich war viel neues über die eiserne Lady dabei, fand den Film informativ und zu Meryl Streep kann man eh nicht mehr als "herausragend" sagen.
Rated 07 Aug 2012
68
28th
Too less focus on the past of Margret Thatcher. Streep is outstanding.
Rated 28 Aug 2012
85
73rd
I really liked this movie and it reminds me of how awesome Margaret Thatcher is. The way they told the story in the film was very odd though. They have many scenes where Thatcher (played by Streep) is a very old woman (great age make-up by the way) and speaks to her dead husband. This is one way of transitioning through Thatcher's life. It doesn't always work but Broadbent does a fine job. I didn't think I would like this biopic but it was very entertaining. Streep did a great job in this.
Rated 23 Feb 2012
89
46th
i love biography!
Rated 04 Jun 2013
2
46th
An underdog story told through flashbacks, a strange choice of narrative given the subject. OK at what it does but it doesn't do a lot.
Rated 23 Dec 2014
40
23rd
Meryl Streep is the only good thing about this movie.
Rated 28 Feb 2012
85
14th
Assombrosa a interpretação de Meryl Streep em "A Dama de Ferro". É uma coisa tipo "baixou o espírito" da M.Tatcher, com ela em vida, vejam vocês. Quanto ao filme, alguém já escreveu que ele nao chega aos pés da atuação da Meryl. Daí fica descompensado, capenga mesmo. Um bom filme (só), que vale (e muito) pela atriz.
Rated 03 Jun 2013
40
19th
The spawn of Thatcher didn't watch this movie, but they also said it sucks. I watched it, and it sucks, but still, for shame on them.
Rated 26 Apr 2014
60
52nd
Entertainment: 3/4. Spirituality: 2/3. Sustainability: 1/3.
Rated 03 Nov 2014
25
9th
the kind people / have a wonderful dream
Rated 12 Jan 2012
67
22nd
Streep's astonishing portrayal of Thatcher carries uneven film; skimps on her political impact and decisions. The movie lacked depth in spells and was a bit of a snore.
Rated 01 Mar 2012
35
9th
God, what happened here? Very very uneven movie... And why was there only 15 minutes about the Faulkland war. But yeah Streep is amazing - it just doesn't make a good movie. Some of the worst cinematography I've seen in a big production for a long time...
Rated 29 May 2018
60
18th
57.50+.65+1.50 = 59.65.
Rated 15 Jan 2013
95
84th
Not favored by the critics, but I was impressed. Meryl Streep must be the greatest actor of all time! Incredible!
Rated 27 Feb 2012
65
39th
As always Streep brings her A-game. Her performance as Thatcher once again shows why she's the best living actress around, sadly it is however not enough to make up for a story with confusing use of flashbacks and pretty huge holes in the plot.
Rated 22 Dec 2011
5
0th
The Iron Lady doesn't confuse its tribute because Streep and Lloyd find a deeper core to Thatcher than her political achievements.
Rated 19 Oct 2013
58
19th
57.500
Rated 23 Oct 2014
45
23rd
Streep's performance is excellent. The screenplay is abysmal.
Rated 09 Feb 2012
56
27th
Broadbent is good and Streep even better. Sadly the script is too shallow and the flashback narration doesn't work that well.
Rated 08 May 2014
56
20th
Not going to deny Streep's fantastic acting, though I felt as if this was not quite the stellar flick I had hoped and assumed it would be.
Rated 11 Feb 2012
59
48th
A fine part by Meryl Streep. But the script was as shattered as the mind of the Iron Lady. I liked haunting spouse but the story failed to build a decent picture of the leading lady. There was so much levels the author skipped and I was ready to study with her.
Rated 30 Nov 2012
30
6th
The Iron Lady is, to put it kindly, a shambles.
Rated 21 Feb 2012
50
14th
Chato e ruim.
Rated 11 Mar 2012
60
22nd
Meryl Streep earned her Oscar, but what a lousy biopic.
Rated 31 Aug 2014
48
31st
This movie certainly tackles a difficult subject matter because there has been so much written about Margaret Thatcher. Its always difficult with 'true stories' to tell what has been exaggerated for screen and separating the fact from fiction. The fact is Meryl Streep is magnificent as Thatcher and is the main reason to watch this film. For the story I would have preferred a more direct narrative rather than using flash backs but this still works well and doesn't hold any punches.
Rated 28 May 2012
75
44th
There was to much senile Tatcher and not eanough "prime minister" Tatcher.
Rated 26 Dec 2011
77
41st
Needed to have more of a political side
Rated 05 Feb 2012
63
17th
THE IRON LADY may not be a typical boring biopic, but it's not a very good biopic either; bizarrely engaging scenes of a senile Margaret Thatcher interacting with her husband's ghost alternate with a choppy look at her life, hitting a few high points but failing to give any feel for the political context of the era. Abi Morgan's script is poor, but Meryl Streep is fine as Thatcher, and Jim Broadbent is quite fun to watch as her husband; Phyllida Lloyd's direction is functional but unremarkable.
Rated 20 Jul 2012
40
15th
passes the time and streep is good, but suvh an important political figure deserves much more comprehensive and substantial treatment.
Rated 08 Apr 2012
65
24th
Meryl Streep is (like usual) unnaturally good in this... but, that's about it. The story is boring and non-educational, teaching me nothing and leaving me unengaged, not mention shoddy camerawork and sound.
Rated 23 Nov 2012
30
12th
boring
Rated 06 Jan 2013
55
34th
I knew very little about Thatcher & after seeing it, I don't feel much different. They didn't focus very much on her actual career, & that's what I wanted to know about. I get the angle they were going for, reflecting on her life. I just wish it hadn't been told that way. I thought a lot of the direction was amateurish & a lot of the plot points felt contrived and unoriginal. At least Meryl Streep was excellent, as expected. It wasn't a waste of time, just not as good as it could have been.
Rated 22 Feb 2012
35
24th
BORING! The only good part was when Meryl Streep was middle age Maggie, the rest was just rubbish.
Rated 18 May 2012
79
30th
Meryl Streep is the best actor in town, but even she couldn't save this film. Margaret Thatcher aside-I have no qualms with her, she has her good traits and bad but don't we all-I feel that this film was out of proportion. Too much time was spent on the dementia component, which was meant to add more drama to the film. But do we really need added drama in a biopic on someone as polarizing as Margaret Thatcher? The dementia component slowed down the film and detracted from the film's statement
Rated 17 May 2013
57
15th
If you forget about the actual Margaret Thatcher, then I'd say the film is generic but ok, nothing really memorable and sometimes uninspired but watchable. However this film is based on the actual MT and portrays her in a really odd way. It largely skips important (controversial) parts in her political career. It pretends MT was mostly a great feminist who knew what was best for the country, which doesn't really stroke with reality as far as I'm concerned. Film could use more nuance/exploration.
Rated 22 Jan 2014
2
0th
Streep and Broadbent are watchable, but what a truly redundant excuse for a film. Obscene in its glorification of such a divisive figure. A waste of time - there really are better things to do.
Rated 12 Jun 2012
20
11th
An exploitative film that displays more of an aging Margaret Thatcher suffering dementia and Alzheimer's in some fantasy conversations with her dead husband than it deals with her political career, grossly ignoring important facts. The only, and I mean the only, redeeming quality of the film is a fantastic performance by Meryl Streep.
Rated 10 Feb 2012
54
7th
Far from beeing a great movie. Meryl Streep saves it though. There are a gazillion interesting stuff about Thatcher-England-Europe in the 70s and 80s. Who thought this was a good screenplay idea? Honestly it was a big mistake.
Rated 15 Sep 2015
0
2nd
Not interested.
Rated 09 Apr 2018
60
17th
Meryl Streep was fantastic. Now that that is out of the way, I can talk about the rest of the movie. I was very interested in The Iron Lady because I don't know much about Thatcher's life. The choice to show the movie in flashbacks didn't appeal to me. The movie did a lot to show that her relationships were affected by her political ambitions but it didn't go deep enough. The political stories didn't go deep enough either. In the end, the movie just turned out to be a wikipedia article on her.
Rated 08 Dec 2019
70
30th
An okay movie but not sure if it's my cup of tea - Streep has a good performance but the character itself and the story wasn't that dramatic or engaging.
Rated 13 Oct 2019
75
39th
A biopic of Margaret Thatcher that fell flat. Aside from Streep's great performance, I have issues with the angle this was filmed. Through the flashbacks of Thatcher falling to dementia/Alzheimer's, I don't think those scenes strongly portrayed the times of the 80s enough and why she may have been forced to make the controversial decisions she did. What was the good/bad sides of the issues? I don't think this was a waste of time, but it could be dramatically improved.
Rated 30 Dec 2022
50
28th
A totally engrossing performance by Streep, with Lloyd clearly trying to reveal the humanity of Thatcher, but ultimately failing (or perhaps succeeding?) as I still hated the Iron Lady at the conclusion of the film.
Rated 27 Apr 2023
6
25th
"The Iron Lady" showcases Meryl Streep's exceptional portrayal of Margaret Thatcher, blending power and vulnerability. The film's makeup and hairstyling transform Streep into the iconic leader. However, the screenplay stumbles, fixating on Thatcher's dementia, which detracts from her political story. With a limited runtime, the movie skimps on exploring the political divide she spurred and the UK's 1980s socio-economic context, leaving viewers yearning for a more comprehensive depiction.

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