Arctic_Wizard
Joined Dec 2003
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I remember back in 2007, when plans for this film were first announced, being very excited at the prospect and thinking that Meryl Streep would be an ideal choice to play Margaret Thatcher, arguably Britain's most controversial prime minister. Then, in early 2011, upon the announcement that she indeed had been cast as The Iron Lady, my excitement heightened. But to be honest, upon finally seeing it a few days ago, I was nowhere near as exhilarated as I had been with other films, which explore a similar theme, such as 'The Queen' and 'The King's Speech'.
Meryl Streep is – as always – flawless at playing the lady herself. Hidden behind prosthetics and mastering the voice to perfection, she shines equally as the ruthlessly ambitious woman that Thatcher started off as, the formidable and tyrannical prime minster that she rose to and the senile octogenarian that she has now become. Equally good are Jim Broadbent and Olivia Coleman as her loving husband and daughter. Richard E. Grant also puts in a nice cameo as one of her potential successors.
The soundtrack from Thomas Newman is also pleasant on the ear, as always.
My major issues with 'The Iron Lady' are related to the direction and to a great extent the, what I believe to be deliberately non-controversial and lazily-written script: too much – a good third of the entire film - focuses on Lady Thatcher's declining physical and mental health. Because of this, nowhere near enough attention is given to her years as Prime Minister and the limited amount of time that does, only and very briefly covers the basics (which most people should already be aware of) – the miners' strike and its subsequent riots, the Falklands war, the 1980s recession and the Brighton bombings, before jumping nearly ten years towards her resignation, barley acknowledging the close friendship she had with Reagan and ignoring the controversial section 28. Maybe the film is aimed at international audiences, with less knowledge on British politics, I don't know. One wonders if had a director and writer, both with more experience in such films - Stephen Frears, Tom Hooper, Peter Morgan – had taken on the task, things could have been very different.
Needless to say, the film is worth seeing – whether you like Thatcher or loath her – only just for Meryl's fantastic performance. And regardless of my comments, it would be very surprising should this film not win, or at least be nominated, for Best Actress, Best makeup and Best Original Score; although with several other good films out there also, it could be a tough one. But, I think I can safely say - Best Director? Best Screenplay? Definitely not.
Meryl Streep is – as always – flawless at playing the lady herself. Hidden behind prosthetics and mastering the voice to perfection, she shines equally as the ruthlessly ambitious woman that Thatcher started off as, the formidable and tyrannical prime minster that she rose to and the senile octogenarian that she has now become. Equally good are Jim Broadbent and Olivia Coleman as her loving husband and daughter. Richard E. Grant also puts in a nice cameo as one of her potential successors.
The soundtrack from Thomas Newman is also pleasant on the ear, as always.
My major issues with 'The Iron Lady' are related to the direction and to a great extent the, what I believe to be deliberately non-controversial and lazily-written script: too much – a good third of the entire film - focuses on Lady Thatcher's declining physical and mental health. Because of this, nowhere near enough attention is given to her years as Prime Minister and the limited amount of time that does, only and very briefly covers the basics (which most people should already be aware of) – the miners' strike and its subsequent riots, the Falklands war, the 1980s recession and the Brighton bombings, before jumping nearly ten years towards her resignation, barley acknowledging the close friendship she had with Reagan and ignoring the controversial section 28. Maybe the film is aimed at international audiences, with less knowledge on British politics, I don't know. One wonders if had a director and writer, both with more experience in such films - Stephen Frears, Tom Hooper, Peter Morgan – had taken on the task, things could have been very different.
Needless to say, the film is worth seeing – whether you like Thatcher or loath her – only just for Meryl's fantastic performance. And regardless of my comments, it would be very surprising should this film not win, or at least be nominated, for Best Actress, Best makeup and Best Original Score; although with several other good films out there also, it could be a tough one. But, I think I can safely say - Best Director? Best Screenplay? Definitely not.
Having stumbled upon 'The Sculptress' on IMDb some years ago, I was immediately interested: Pauline Quirke ('Birds of a Feather') playing Olive Martin, a young woman incarcerated for brutally murdering her mother and sister, with Caroline Goodall as a work-hungry novelist trying to understand get inside her murderous psyche. After a few years trying to see it, I finally managed to borrow it on an old VCR and settle down one evening to watch it.
The first hour and a half is highly captivating portraying Olive and Roz (Goodall) initial encounter with Roz embarking on her investigation. The acting between Quirke and Goodall is fantastic, the script is well written and the directing is highly admirable. It was a pleasant surprise to see the exteriors of Oxford Prison, primarily known for it's use on ITVs 'Bad Girls', being used for the forbidden jail where much of the action takes place.
My main issue with 'The Sculptress' would be that I did find that the scriptwriter (and possibly Minnette Walters in her original novel) went off on a complete, wild tangent. He appears to forget about Quirke - who for the bulk of the second hour and half isn't featured – and instead focuses way too much on Goodhall's character and the unnecessary subplots surrounding her character. Because of this, the dark psychological thriller-element seems to be abandoned and it quickly turns into any other trashy TV drama. The seemingly-hastily written ending is rather obscure and very confusing. It is jam-packed with twists, turns and one-too-many flashbacks, leaving me completely baffled as to what had actually happened. I am a great admirer of open-endings but this was far too unclear and a little too amateurish.
Nonetheless, Pauline Quirke was sensational as Olive Martin. Forget Sharon Theodopolopodous - here she is barely recognizable: hidden beneath a gigantic fat-suit, with long dark hair and a ghostly-pale complexion, borrowing an evil glare in the process. I was particularly unnerved by the eerie lullaby she sings over the credits at the end. I did feel for Caroline Goodall's character when she and Olive come face to face in that dark prison cell. Caroline Goodall was also very good as the eager journalist desperate to uncover the truth behind Olive's disturbed behaviour.
Still, I'm very glad I was finally able to see this and would recommend it to anyone interested in the psychological thriller/crime-detective genre. Not to mention, anyone who admires Pauline Quirke.
The first hour and a half is highly captivating portraying Olive and Roz (Goodall) initial encounter with Roz embarking on her investigation. The acting between Quirke and Goodall is fantastic, the script is well written and the directing is highly admirable. It was a pleasant surprise to see the exteriors of Oxford Prison, primarily known for it's use on ITVs 'Bad Girls', being used for the forbidden jail where much of the action takes place.
My main issue with 'The Sculptress' would be that I did find that the scriptwriter (and possibly Minnette Walters in her original novel) went off on a complete, wild tangent. He appears to forget about Quirke - who for the bulk of the second hour and half isn't featured – and instead focuses way too much on Goodhall's character and the unnecessary subplots surrounding her character. Because of this, the dark psychological thriller-element seems to be abandoned and it quickly turns into any other trashy TV drama. The seemingly-hastily written ending is rather obscure and very confusing. It is jam-packed with twists, turns and one-too-many flashbacks, leaving me completely baffled as to what had actually happened. I am a great admirer of open-endings but this was far too unclear and a little too amateurish.
Nonetheless, Pauline Quirke was sensational as Olive Martin. Forget Sharon Theodopolopodous - here she is barely recognizable: hidden beneath a gigantic fat-suit, with long dark hair and a ghostly-pale complexion, borrowing an evil glare in the process. I was particularly unnerved by the eerie lullaby she sings over the credits at the end. I did feel for Caroline Goodall's character when she and Olive come face to face in that dark prison cell. Caroline Goodall was also very good as the eager journalist desperate to uncover the truth behind Olive's disturbed behaviour.
Still, I'm very glad I was finally able to see this and would recommend it to anyone interested in the psychological thriller/crime-detective genre. Not to mention, anyone who admires Pauline Quirke.
Shame really - very rarely do I watch a film and am left feeling disappointed at the end. I've seen quite a few of Ira Levin's adaptations - 'Rosemary's Baby' and 'The Stepford Wives' - and liked both them, but this just didn't appeal to me.
When I read the plot outline - an award winning playwright (Michael Caine) decides to murder one of his former pupils (Christopher Reeve) and steel his script for his own success - I was excited. I like thrillers, Michael Caine's a good actor, Sidney Lumet's a good director and Ira Levin's work is generally good.
I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet, but all I'd say is there are LOADS of twists and turns. So many its kind of hard to explain the film's plot line in detail, without giving it away. I enjoyed the first ... 45 minutes, before the twists and turns began to occur and at that point my interest and enjoyment began to fade out. Though I have to give Lumet credit for the very amusing ending which did make me laugh out loud.
The main cast - Michael Caine, Christopher Reeve, Dyan Cannon and Irene Worth - were all brilliant in their roles. Though Worth's obvious fake Russian accent got on my nerves slightly (nothing personal Irene, I think any actor's fake accent would irritate me). Not sure if Cannon's character was meant to be annoyingly funny but Dyan managed to annoy and amuse - at the same time.
Anyone reading this - I don't want you to be put-off watching this because of my views - give it a chance, you may like it, you may not. It's all about opinion.
When I read the plot outline - an award winning playwright (Michael Caine) decides to murder one of his former pupils (Christopher Reeve) and steel his script for his own success - I was excited. I like thrillers, Michael Caine's a good actor, Sidney Lumet's a good director and Ira Levin's work is generally good.
I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet, but all I'd say is there are LOADS of twists and turns. So many its kind of hard to explain the film's plot line in detail, without giving it away. I enjoyed the first ... 45 minutes, before the twists and turns began to occur and at that point my interest and enjoyment began to fade out. Though I have to give Lumet credit for the very amusing ending which did make me laugh out loud.
The main cast - Michael Caine, Christopher Reeve, Dyan Cannon and Irene Worth - were all brilliant in their roles. Though Worth's obvious fake Russian accent got on my nerves slightly (nothing personal Irene, I think any actor's fake accent would irritate me). Not sure if Cannon's character was meant to be annoyingly funny but Dyan managed to annoy and amuse - at the same time.
Anyone reading this - I don't want you to be put-off watching this because of my views - give it a chance, you may like it, you may not. It's all about opinion.