The Iron Lady

Meryl Streep brilliantly portrays Margaret Thatcher | Rebecca Cusey

Alex Bailey/Pathe Productions Ltd/PA

As The Iron Lady opens, an elderly woman shuffles into the local market. Pushed aside by a self-important businessman and an oblivious youth, she expresses confused surprise at the price of milk. No one recognizes that she is the former co-leader of the free world and bane of dictators, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

It's a poignant moment as the grocer's daughter assesses her country's economic health the same way she did while in office: by keeping track of the price of a pint of milk.

This pathos is the great strength and great weakness of the film (rated PG-13 for violent images of riots and a fleeting but explicit shot of female nudity). Thatcher, played brilliantly by Meryl Streep, is portrayed in her dotage, with flashbacks to her career. Throughout the film, she sees and talks to her beloved deceased husband (Jim Broadbent). Her confusion and loneliness conflict with determination and intelligence to create a portrait of a woman still true to her convictions, although unsure about the details. The portrayal humanizes rather than demeans, while creating more than one lump in the throat.