[24 OUT OF 46 FILMS REMAINING]-[20 DAYS TO OSCARS]
Meryl Streep is by far a frontrunner in this year’s Oscar race, but not because the film she is in is an utter success, but because Meryl Streep is who she is. Since she’s been successful before, winning two Academy Awards already (one in 1979 for “Kramer Vs. Kramer” and one in 1982 for “Sophie’s Choice”). If you can count, then you realize it has been almost 40 years since Streep’s last win, even though she’s been nominated a record seventeen times, beginning with her 1978 role in “The Deer Hunter”.
Just because she’s “overdue” does not mean we should award her in such a mediocre film. Though I am definitely a fan of Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady” is in no way a vehicle for the best performance of the year and I think I will end up upset if she does win for this performance. Viola Davis is a better choice, I am strongly hoping Michelle Williams will sneak in and take this award.
Though Streep looks completely at home in the skin of Margaret Thatcher and basically flows quite naturally through Thatcher’s dialogue, the dementia patient shtick that the film follows is unbecoming of Streep and even though she pulls it off, the film itself is not any better for her performance. An award-winning performance should be surrounded by a worthwhile film, thus making you feel like that actress delivered such an amazing performance that the film was then better because of it.
Long story short, I love Streep, but this will hopefully not be her year. And with her Golden Globe acceptance speech shouting out to Viola Davis, I am thinking Streep knows this as well.
I would rather not award this film win anything, but since it utilizes the old “aging actress” makeup, it is a strong possibility, especially in such a small category. Though I strongly hope “Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part Two” gets this one, with “Albert Nobbs” looking very unlikely to take it, it may just be down to “Potter” and “The Iron Lady”.
