10. Meryl Streep As Margaret Thatcher The Iron Lady
20th Century FoxWhen it comes to British politics, there can be few leaders who have been as divisive as Margaret Thatcher, the long-serving Conservative Prime Minister who served from 1979 to 1990. The film opens with an elderly and somewhat senile Thatcher, who has become a virtual prisoner in her own home. Much of the storytelling is done through flashbacks and conversations she has with the visions of her late husband, Denis Thatcher (Jim Broadbent). Over the course of the film, Thatcher grows from the ambitious daughter of a grocer, to the first female Prime Minister of Britain, all of which is framed by the image of an elderly woman struggling to cope with the death of her husband, as well as her diminished role in the political system. Sympathetic portrayals of Thatcher are few and far between, but by shying away from the politics of her leadership, director Phyllida Lloyd is able to present audiences with a Thatcher with some level of depth. Thatcher is recognisably human in this film, and while shes not always likeable (nor should she be), she never appears to be as callous and cruel as some would have her be seen. This is all driven by Meryl Streeps thundering performance. Streep lends Thatcher the stoical strength that the portrayal demands while infusing her Thatcher with the frailties and weaknesses that surely existed beneath the stalwart exterior.