"Iron Lady" DVD

So, as I mentioned, I picked up a copy of The Iron Lady on DVD last night.  When I got home I watched the special features section and all I have to say is...underwhelmed.   There was a "making of" section, costumes, casting the young Margaret, something about Jim Broadbent, blah blah blah.   The sections were all so brief.  I feel like I got a way better sense of the behind-the-scenes goings on from interviews I saw with Meryl during the awards season.

Considering the film wasn't released in theaters nationwide in the U.S. until mid January, it's a little surprising that it was already released on DVD three months later.  I suppose maybe they wanted to get it out while the the memory of Meryl's Oscar win was reasonably fresh in people's minds.  I would've rather they waited a bit in order to give us a more comprehensive look at the film's making, a la the DVDs of Out of Africa or Sophie's Choice.  Of course I would've liked a section that covered Meryl's casting, as they did for Broadbent and Alex Roach, who played young Maggie.  There were some fun comments about Meryl. Olivia Colman stated that she was waiting to see if Meryl would be as good as she expected, and she found herself distracted from her ability to remember her own lines because she was so enthralled by Meryl's work.  By far my favorite story however is from one of the male British actors.  Evidently after one of the first scenes with Meryl he went home and his family immediately peppered him with questions about her and whether her accent was believable.  He said "Stop.  Stop right there.  I've just had dinner with Margaret Thatcher."  Love that shit.

Our roomie Scyler had not yet seen the film and he showed interest in watching it tonight, so we just finished up. This was my third time seeing the film and I have to say, it gets better each time.  I really feel that I went into it being so preoccupied with Meryl's performance, and all the reviews I had read sort of panned the film, while praising Meryl.  While no masterpiece, the film isn't that bad.  However, had Meryl not been in it, I likely wouldn't have seen it, especially three times.  It reminds me of how I didn't even realize that The Last Station had been made with Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer until the role landed Plummer an Oscar nomination.  Anthony Hopkins and Meryl had been in talks years prior to play Leo Tolstoy and his wife, Sophia, respectively.  I can recall getting jazzed at the possibility of Meryl mastering a Russian accent.  But alas, role rumors abound, as this past week's news can attest regarding Into the Woods and Saving Mr. Banks.  Patience, grasshopper.