THE IRON LADY

RYAN: Meryl Streep, Critics Choice Movie Award nominee for The Iron Lady, so deserves the nomination. I don’t know who I’m voting for yet in this category but she – this just in – blows you away once again.

CAROLINE: To no one’s surprise, of course. She is, after all, like the most celebrated living actress. I haven’t yet seen this. How’s the film overall?

RYAN: It’s great. There are moments so powerful, almost Mommie Dearest like, and the makeup is phenom.

CAROLINE: Wait, so it’s campy at times?

RYAN: No. It’s just Maggie Thatcher was a strong, powerful woman and those scenes I found most compelling. But back to the makeup, as the nose did wonders for Nikki Kidman in The Hours, the case here is similar. You actually forget Meryl. She just melts into Thatcher; so much like the real thing it’s cray cray.

CAROLINE: Is it heavy on the history?

RYAN: A little but it very cleverly bounces back and forth in flashbacks to her younger days and I like that as a storytelling device. There’s also good info on her personal life.

CAROLINE: Who else is in it that we care about?

RYAN: Jim Broadbent plays her hubby. And c’mon… He’s a very great and hardworking but ultimately underrated actor.

CAROLINE: Well he’s really a character actor.

RYAN: True.

CAROLINE: How are the costumes and such?

RYAN: It’s all great but according to this movie, Margaret Thatcher only ever wore blue. I thought that was kind of strange.

CAROLINE: Actually, that may be relatively factually accurate.

RYAN: Don’t get me wrong, blue was her color; but I though for the sake of the film, why not shake things up a bit?

CAROLINE: Honey it’s a biopic.

RYAN: The other big biopic this season, J. Edgar, featuring CCMA best actor nominee Leo DiCaprio, is good but I liked this one better. It’s a very well crafted biopic but let’s be honest, the real draw here is Meryl’s transformation and performance. I hate to be cliche, but she’s brilliant.

— RATING —