The Iron Lady: Press reviews

'pretty much compulsory viewing, I'd say, and not only for Meryl. '

'the film moves fluidly and feels polished and authentically cinematic.'

'As I came out ... I heard someone say, "It's just acting". Dear someone: you are right. Streep's Thatcher is just acting; Milton's Paradise Lost is just writing; the Parthenon is just a building. Let's get things in proportion. The universe is just a universe; God (if he exists) is just God.'

' Certainly, it's worth seeing and arguing over, but my personal take on Thatcher remains unchanged, Streep's virtuoso ministrations notwithstanding.'

'One of Streep's finest-ever performances. But beyond that — whatever Morgan and Lloyd's intentions — it's little more than a myth-enshrining exercise.'

'You are left with the impression of an old woman who can't quite remember who she used to be and of a movie that is not so sure either.'

'Streep's performance is outstanding, managing partly to obliterate some of the flaws of the film itself: it is worth seeing for Streep alone'

'Despite a note-perfect performance by Meryl Streep, the Margaret Thatcher biopic lacks much cutting edge'

'Streep has got the voice, that maddening stately drone, so spot-on it's eerie. All her other expressive tics seem to follow from it. It's an astonishing feat, far bolder and wittier than the film that surrounds it.'

'The Iron Lady has nothing to say about its subject, except that she was of iron, but still a lady'

'a study of the process of ageing, fading powers, doubt, disappointment and loss that will come to most of us if we stay the course, and a stunning performance from Meryl Streep'

'without the magnificent Streep, The Iron Lady would be a forgettable TV movie.'

'Sly satire and a sublime Streep should tempt in more than the party faithful.'

'uncannily accurate, Oscar-quality performance ... doesn't prevent this film from being jaw-droppingly misconceived.'

'the outright refusal to engage with political complexities is disappointing. While the hagiography is just depressing.'