Everyone knew that there would one day be a film about the life of Margaret Thatcher. Mostly, the question was just about whether the woman herself would be alive to see it. However, the film was always going to be as problematic as it was inevitable. Love her or hate her, there is an undeniable wealth of dramatic potential in the story of her days, but there was the worry about where it would lean. If the biopic of Britain’s most controversial leader would act as some sort of historical document, there was much anticipation on what the final verdict would be on how she would be ultimately remembered. How do you solve a problem like Margaret? Well, the wait is over.

Margaret Thatcher, now in her eighties, widowed and shuffling around her home, has resolved to clear her wardrobes of her dead husband’s old clothes. In doing so, whilst talking to her husband, she remembers her life, her beginnings in politics, her rise to power and the end of her reign as Prime Minister of Britain.

There are numerous problems that exist in general with the biographical film, depending on who is the subject. One that relates specifically to The Iron Lady is the fact that sometimes the individual is so huge, so complex, so culturally significant (for good or bad) that trying to tell the story of their whole life is just too big a task. As such, many have opted for the snapshot approach, looking at one single event or achievement through which we can see the length, breadth and depth of the character encapsulated. Examples of such an approach would be Invictus (Nelson Mandela and the rugby world cup), Downfall (the last days of Adolf Hitler) or even the more recent My Week with Marilyn (one young man’s memories of working with Marilyn Monroe). As a storytelling technique, it’s a fine one for its purpose.

However, with The Iron Lady, director Phyllida Lloyd and writer Abi Morgan, have gone for the more standard ‘everything in flashback’ approach, trying to cover as much of Thatcher’s life as possible, a la Walk the Line or Amadeus. This is the single most significant reason as to why The Iron Lady doesn’t work.

Simply put, there is just too much to show. Even just looking exclusively at Thatcher’s time as leader, there is an overwhelming amount to look at. The Falklands, the poll tax, the IRA, the Trade Unions, the siege of the Iranian Embassy, political “back-stabbing”… this would be a huge amount for a single season of a television series to deal with, never mind a single film that has not only limited itself to a paltry 105 minute running time, around half of which is devoted to an elderly, dementia-afflicted Thatcher talking to her daughter and dead husband.

As a result of this decision to cover as much historical ground as possible, as well as covering some peculiar fictional territory in the present, all of the most significant details of Thatcher’s life have been reduced to a journalistic shorthand, a handful of topic sentences to be further developed later. Only these developments never really arrive. Major events are name-checked or glanced briefly in short montages, but not really given any kind of in-depth discussion or consideration. You learn nothing other than they happened. I was on Thatcher’s Wikipedia article for only about 15 minutes before writing this and I came away from that better informed than I was from The Iron Lady.

Even as a point of understanding her as a person, there is little given. Sure, she’s principled, but why? Where did these particular principles come from? Her politically active father? Why was he such a big influence on her? Again, it’s all done in only the most slight, almost nonexistent (in some cases exactly that) turns that make it all seem too easy come by. Even her relationships with her fellow politicians get nothing but the most tertiary of considerations.

This film could have been as controversial as Thatcher herself, depending on how it all unfolded. As it is, it’s tough to see how anyone can really be satisfied with it. It doesn’t really push itself in any particular direction, so many have criticised the film, either for letting Thatcher off too lightly or for making her seem like some senile old woman. Ironically, the one thing people seem to agree on is that The Iron Lady makes Margaret Thatcher seem a bit anaemic and powerless in the grand scheme, and this is surely the single most defining thing about her.

With its poor handling of subject matter and a lack of any real insight into character, it’s hard to regard The Iron Lady as anything other than a failure. Meryl Streep’s performance is great, as is Olivia Colman’s turn as Carol Thatcher. Even Alexandra Roach as the young Margaret Thatcher is of a good standard. However, it’s everything around them that fails to capitalise. The tagline of this film is “Never Compromise.” In light of the final product, this just seems more bitterly ironic than anything else.

Paul Costello also has a daily movie review blog called A Cinephile’s Journey, looking at films old and new.