The Iron Lady 12A 2012 (105 minutes)

It’s an impressive CV. Chemist, barrister and then MP for Finchley (1959). First female Prime Minister (1979 to 1990) and re-elected three times. Life Peer for Kesteven in the Lincolnshire downs. Conviction politician of unwavering nerve.

Streep or Thatcher?

While a movie about The Iron Lady was never in doubt, its subject material – a portrayal of dementia and the decomposition of the mind - seems a curious choice. How do we know how Baroness Thatcher (Meryl Streep) spends her days? Her public appearances are increasingly rare but going slowly mad in the four walls of her flat, lost in the reverence of a husband long dead, lamenting a wayward son, himself too troubled to care? Unlikely and tasteless given that the Lady still lives.

On the (frustratingly) brief occasions that we revisit her past, events are too simple, analysis ignored. When Thatcher is asked to take a decision on the (warship) Belgrano, she replies "sink it" without pausing as if it was nothing of note. This, of a Prime Minister, who personally hand-wrote letters of condolences to the families of those who died.

Her political decisions are barely explored - the miners’ strike simplified to clashes with police, discussions with Europe simply touched on in brief and her (crucial) relationship with Reagan reduced to a dance. Even former colleagues have no meat on the bone, Foot, Heseltine and Howe simple caricatures, Lamont, Whitelaw and Tebbit barely worthy of note. With increasing frustration we are taken back to her flat where this most brilliant of minds is slowly coming apart. And yet suddenly she is back with the clarity of old; “It’s not how you feel... it’s what you do”, she tells a doting fan.

Redemption arrives in the form of the acting, some colossal performances in spite of the (Abi Morgan) script. Jim Broadbent’s Dennis is the rock of her life, supportive and patient and devoted to her success; Olivia Colman’s Carol, the prodigal daughter come home. But shine as they might, they simply cannot compare for Streep is magnificent in everything that she does; from the hair, to the smile, the clothes to the gait. She simply “is” Maggie in the role of her life.

With an astonishing 16 Oscar nominations [but strangely only two wins - Kramer v Kramer (1975) and Sophie’s Choice (1982)] - to her name in over three decades of film - Meryl Streep, like fine wine, seems to get better with time. Here’s to her maturation whenever that might be!

Streep's finest hour. Unmissable, despite the plot. 9/10.

DM
January 2012

Thatcher or Streep?

The Blues Band
Blackheath Halls December 18 2011

Their first album cratered selling but a handful of copies, the band even reduced into producing themselves. 32 years on and some 20 albums later, the Blues Band - Paul Jones (vocals / harmonica), Tom McGuinness (lead guitarist), Gary Fletcher (bass), Dave Kelly (slide guitarist) and drummer, Rob Townsend - are surely now regarded as one of Britain’s best-loved bands.

Their music – an eclectically odd combination of country, jazz and blues – has to be seen in a world of its own; “The music industry doesn’t bother us and we don’t bother them”, their oft-quoted theme. But if the genre is in question then their ability is not, all capable musicians with distinguished careers.

Jones is best known, actor, broadcaster and lead vocalist with 60s group Manfred Mann. He still seeks the limelight and stands centre stage but his timing is excellent and his vocals still strong. His rendition of his own song, “Suddenly I Like It”, was excellent, lyrical and tender, notwithstanding failed efforts to get the audience to join in. His manipulation of the harmonica – no tinny toy in his hands – was quite spectacular from the purity of his tone to the breadth of his range. But Blues Band the group is much more than just Jones, each of the band members (unusually) taking turns at the mic; McGuinness’s (also Manfred Mann) gentle tones, Kelly’s forceful energy and Fletcher’s rhythmic pitch. But if their vocals are strong their playing is better, the key reason they have lasted so long. Townsend’s rhythm at the back of the stage, Kelly’s facility on the bottleneck guitar, Fletcher’s flexibility with finger and thumb.

After a banal introduction and some inane repartee (somebody should really tell them), things finally got going with a crowd-pleasing mixture of classic old favourites – What you Wanted and Going Home – and more recent material - Living with the Blues and You are True - from their new album, A Few Short Lines. But at the end of each song, repartee – largely consisting of interminable requests to purchase the new album – reappeared, destroying what momentum the group had managed to build, an inexcusable mistake for an experienced group.

However, most of their loyal audience simply enjoyed what they heard, cheering and shouting before the end of each song, Blind Alfred Reed’s “How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live”, the highlight of the night.

An evening for fans. 6/10. Oh, and a Happy New Year!



Dick Morgan
December 2011

2011 Film Review of the Year

Year of the Sequel



Johnny English 2, Alvin and the Chipmunks 3, Mission Impossible 4, X-Men 5, Rise of the Apes 7 and Harry Potter 8. 2011 was, without doubt, the year of the sequel with a record-breaking 27 of the little devils; 1 in every 5 movies made in a year, non original material. With Shakespeare in Love (2), Batman (3) and Die Hard (5) in production, 2012 looks set for the same. What awaits us next? Apollo 13 (2)?

Despite instincts to the contrary, there is method in this madness. Why do they make them? Because we keep on going. In fact, we flock in our millions, Toy Story 3, Iron Man 2 and Shrek 4, the highest grossing films of 2010. “There are no signs….to Hollywood that audiences have had too much”, notes Dr Jonathan Gray, a professor of cultural studies at the University of Wisconsin, “so why should they stop”? They shouldn’t and they won’t as the recently released Hollywood version of the Swedish, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, would attest.

And yet remakes and sequels are not always bad, Kenneth Branagh’s 1989 adaptation of Henry V arguably stronger than Olivier’s 1944 so-called definitive, original. Few would question the first, Star Wars trilogy, the Toy Story series, the three Lord of the Rings or the unforgettable 20 hours of the wizard, Harry Potter, the last of the (eight) films, a true tour de force. If certain originals are too good to touch – Citizen Kane, Casablanca and Singing in the Rain come to mind – then others - True Grit and Planet of the Apes in 2011 - surely ache, for a face- lift, at least.

Michael Holding testing John Edrich in Stevan Riley’s, Fire in Babylon

Nicole Kidman an Aron Eckhart in John Cameron Mitchell’s, Rabbit Hole


And so to my choices for 2011.

Pride of place to Colin Firth as an impeccable king. Second to Michelle Williams and Marilyn Monroe. Third, JK Rowling for her unforgettable epic, the culmination of which is as good as it gets. Fourth goes to Rabbit Hole (Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart), a wonderfully portrayed tragedy about the loss of a child. Fifth the game of cricket and racism in the 70s. Sixth is a literally breathtaking self-amputation slightly ahead of a Hollywood remake, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Eighth comes the French with some reflection on life, 9th Japanese warriors and last, the rendition of David Nicholls’ One Day.

2011 has been fun and here’s to 2012. See you at the movies!



1. The King’s Speech
2. My Week with Marilyn
3. Harry Potter (8)
4. Rabbit Hole
5. Fire in Babylon
6. 127 Hours
7. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
8. Little White Lies
9. 13 Assassins
10. One Day

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (18) 152 minutes 2011

The Stieg Larsson legacy was too good to be true; 65 million copies of the novels, a scandal from his intestate partner and three subtitled films. Hollywood simply could not resist. Secretly I hoped that they would fail. How could they improve an original which, sub titles apart, was close to perfect? I immediately started looking for flaws.

They were not in the storyline, a magnificent, multi-layered canvas, imperiously unfurled. A dysfunctional family and a young missing child, a bisexual, multi-pierced and tattooed anti-heroine (Rooney Mara) and a serial killer who had never been found. The foundations were excellent, the structure outstanding and the denouement quite stunning with nothing left to chance. Two and a half hours flew by in an instant.

They were neither in the direction, David (Fight Club and The Social Network) Fincher’s reproduction, slick and fast-paced notwithstanding an out-of-place introduction and a deafening score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. They certainly weren’t in the heroine herself, Rooney’s performance surprisingly strong.
Courageously cast – until now only known for a short cameo in The Social Network - she does not disappoint. Less savage and raw than Noomi Rapace’s definitive original - her piercings and haircut just a little too neat, her feelings for Mikael (Daniel Craig) just a little too sweet - she has violence in her eyes and retribution in her heart. The problem surprisingly, lies in 007, Craig’s journalist, Mikael Blomqvist, too flippant and light, his relationship with Lisbeth too superficial and lacking depth.

The rest of the characters are thoughtfully cast - from Christopher Plummer’s – he gets better with age - head of the household to Stellan Skarsgård’s family CEO. Robin Wright however, is sadly underused, her dialogue thin and her relationship with Mikael, barely explored. If, as Fincher has hinted - two more films are to follow – Wright must surely be developed as her role running Millennium is central to the plot.

Despite minor misgivings, the movie is good, screenwriter Steven Zaillian capturing the essence of the book. Craig’s invitation to Mara to “catch men who kill women” – her reaction is stunning – without doubt an allusion to the book’s original, no-nonsense title; “The man who hated women”. Larsson’s premature death is a loss to us all.

A surprisingly good reproduction of an irreplaceable original. 8/10


DM
December 2011