We were duped!
An invitation to an advance screening of The Iron Lady hit our inbox this week and we were so excited. Robert Downey Jr.’s superhero character was getting a metallic wife and she was headlining a spin-off.
Man, we were psyched.
Alas, as the opening credits rolled we quickly learned that the movie is about a superhero, but one a little more grounded in the real world. That would be one Lady Margaret Thatcher, one of the most celebrated and controversial prime ministers in British history.
It’s a juicy role that only a high-caliber actress like Meryl Streep (sorry, Katherine Heigl) could sink her prosthetic crooked teeth into and do justice. And even more so than she did in her portrayal of Julia Childs, Streep gets lost in the role, making it easy to believe the real Maggie Thatcher is up on screen.
Told in a series of flashbacks, the story focuses on the inner character of the P.M. more than a simple laundry list of her political accomplishments. And what a character she is.
The film’s barely an hour and 40 minutes long, but it’s so packed full of details that it feels pleasantly thorough without becoming tiresome or tedious. Perhaps because every moment Streep is in a scene, we’re hypnotized and time stands still.
But that Iron Man wife movie still sounds pretty cool.
The Iron Lady
Opens today in theaters everywhere
www.ironladymovie.com
