Stranger Than Fiction

SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

This delightful realistic fairy tale plays with the idea that art imitates life, and shows how life is influenced by art. It also depicts how, in the face of life’s struggles that eventually lead to death, people are saved in a variety of ways. The movie does an excellent job of balancing serious issues with humorous moments and dialogue, as it explores the shifting line between tragedy and comedy.

The film begins with a woman circling want ads and a boy receiving a bicycle as a gift. Then there is Emma Thompson’s voice saying what follows is a story about Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) and his wristwatch, which the camera zooms in on after the shot moves from outer space to Harold’s apartment, suggesting how larger forces interact with an individual’s life. Thompson (in another wonderful performance) is Kay Eiffel, a writer, so it is appropriate that she is telling a story. This performance is my favorite Ferrell role. He has stuck to comic, often silly, movies, but here he shows that he has range and can bridge the area between comedy and drama with underplayed acting.

Eiffel says Harold “was a man of infinite numbers.” He spoke little since mathematics, not words, ruled his life. The narrator notes that Harold brushed his teeth each day seventy-six times, thirty-eight in one direction and thirty-eight in another. For twelve years he tied a single knot in his tie to save time compared to a double knot, but his wristwatch (which has anthropomorphic attributes in this tale) thought it made his neck look fat, “but said nothing,” silence being what is expected of a watch. The implication here is that although human, Harold is likened to a mechanism, while his watch, an object, is like a person.  Harold also ran to catch his bus, with an apple in his mouth, at the same rate each workday. When he ran, his watch would “delight” in the wind “rushing over its face,” demonstrating that at this point it, ironically, has more emotion than the person who is wearing the timepiece. The film’s visuals display numbers on the screen throughout the movie to stress the arithmetic that Harold has allowed to determine his world. 

Harold is a senior agent at the Internal Revenue Service, a place that primarily deals with numbers, and he reviewed the exact same number of cases each day. He is like Rain Man in his ability to calculate sums as his co-workers test him (and interestingly, Dustin Hoffman is in this movie). He would take exactly 45.7 minutes for lunch, as his life is parceled down to fractions of time. His wristwatch lets him know exactly when to perform each action, showing Harold dwells in the safety of a numbers-driven technological environment. His life is as inhuman as his calculations, devoid of social interaction, since he walked, ate, and slept alone. The narrator says that, “on Wednesday, Harold’s wristwatch changed everything.” It’s as if Harold’s regimented life might be subverted by his underlying need for the personal touch.

For stories to be interesting, there must be twists. But, it is not only the change in his watch that supposedly alters the story. Harold now hears Eiffel’s voice announcing his every measured move, and he confusedly calls out to whoever is saying what he is doing. Fiction and reality here become one in this story within a story (but we are watching a movie so the overall structure is fictional). The Voice says that ironically Harold’s numbers-based existence “would become the catalyst for an entirely new life.” It’s as if hearing this omniscient narrator alerts Harold that he is about to embark on a different way of living.

Because the Voice makes him conscious of his automatic activities, Harold changes his movements as he reflectively observes himself, and the numerical pictorial graphics crash to the street as he slows his usual pace, showing how he is now capable of breaking free of his routines by becoming self-aware. Of course his initial reaction is one of confusion and fear. He no longer can concentrate on his work because of the intrusive narrator. He believes he is “being followed” by a woman’s voice. He is standing in an isolated, sterile white filing room at the office, reflecting on the barrenness of his world, and for that matter, every person’s life that is dominated by boring routine. He tells his co-worker, Dave (Tony Hale), to listen to the Voice (which Dave can’t hear) as he places a folder into a box. The narrator likens the sound of the interaction of the two objects as “a wave scraping against sand.” The Voice says that for Harold the sound could signify “what he imagined to be a deep and endless ocean,” which Harold confesses he actually felt. Here, art, in this case the story, lends poetic language and insight into the endless repetition of the Groundhog Day life many people live. 

A female co-worker approaches the two men and robotically drops off the new audits. In a monotone she says, “have a good day.” This small incident shows that Harold is not alone in his humanity-denying existence. He takes the baker, Ana Pascal (Maggie Gyllenhal in a great performance), to investigate (the screenwriter, Zach Helm, noted that he used the names of mathematicians for his characters to mirror Harold’s life and those living worker bee lives). Ana is a tattooed woman who is dynamic in her actions and speech compared to the stiff Harold. She slams dough around her work area as she curses the “taxman,” with others in the eatery joining in on the scorn (because, let’s face it, even if you grant it’s necessity, nobody likes taxes). She admits to deliberately paying only seventy-eight percent of her taxes, because although she supports using funds for certain government programs, she does not approve of excessive spending on defense programs, “corporate bailouts and campaign discretionary funds.” She included a letter with her tax return addressed to the “Imperialist swine.” He asks if she belongs to an anarchist group, which she comically points out that would be a contradiction in terms. 

The Voice intervenes, saying that Harold, although not prone to fantasies (ironic, since this story is one) can’t help but be sexually aroused by the passionate baker (a profession that stresses satisfying physical appetites. But, “pascal” suggests Easter, which deals with resurrection, hinting at the woman’s effect on Harold). She tells him that he is staring at her breasts, and he tries to cover up his carnal observation by saying if he was doing what she said, “it was only as a representative of the United States Government.” It’s as if he is trying to convince himself that he can only allow himself to be interested in her in an official capacity. He can’t continue and says he will return.

Outside, Harold uncharacteristically yells at the Voice to “Shut up!” His automaton facade is breaking down. He looks up at the sky as he screams, as if cursing God as the camera pulls back upward away from him. The next counterpointal shot is from high up on a building rooftop as Harold’s God looks down on the people below. It is Eiffel, the writer whose voice Harold was hearing, and who supposedly has the fate of her characters in her hands. She waves her hand above some people below, which is followed by a man with a hose diverted by a boy on a bike (remember him from the first shot?), and the man accidentally sprays a woman (the one at the beginning looking for a job in the newspaper). Random people become connected by God, or in the case of a story, the writer, (and here the screenwriter who makes the writer a character, too) an artist, who like a divinity, has the power to create. 

The writer appears to jump off the roof. But that is a fiction, as she contemplates her own imagined actions, and is really waving her hands while in her apartment while standing on a desk. Penny Escher (Queen Latiffah) comes in and asks if she is Miss Eiffel, a name that shows how she towers above her subjects, but, given her imaginary jump, also implies the precariousness of her position as she struggles with the writing that in her case points to how she, too, feels powerless over the direction of her story. Eiffel says she was doing research standing on her desk (where she writes) imagining a demise from a jump from a building. Penny was sent by the publisher to be a secretarial assistant. But Kay Eiffel sees her as a spy because the publisher believes she has writer’s block. The author doesn’t want to admit to the stunted storytelling, and with a straight face won’t admit that her chain smoking is due to her anguish, saying humorously the cigarettes came “pre-smoked.” She asks Penny what she thinks about jumping off a building. She wants to explore the depths of human nature, and dismisses the idea that Penny doesn’t think about those negative things, only wanting to feel happy. Eiffel says everyone has thought about the nature of suicide. Eiffel would want to argue against those who only want art to divert, and people to be in denial about the darker aspects of what it is to be human. Eiffel says that she saw a picture where a person leaped off a building, and her face looked serene in death. Eiffel thinks it’s because the jumper enjoyed the wind rushing past her face (the way she described what Harold’s wristwatch felt, its mechanical face having the sensation of a human face. Maybe Eiffel is suggesting even a person living like a machine can enjoy life’s sensations, even if it must coincide with the death of the robot-like body).

Eiffel believes Penny was sent because, “I don’t know how to kill Harold Crick.” All God’s children have to die, but it is still disconcerting, even in a story, to hear that causing an individual’s death is premeditated. In the human realm, that act is called murder. Eiffel is antagonistic toward Penny as she struggles with her plot. Penny says she has helped twenty authors complete thirty-five books, and “never missed a deadline.” So, despite Eiffel’s dismissal of her ability to help, Penny says she can contribute to the solving of the writer’s problem. It appears at this point, Penny is only there to help Eiffel meet her contractual obligation.

At work, Harold receives an email, not very personal, from Dr. Cayly (Tom Hulce) to report to Human Resources. Cayly, sporting a New Age look with necklaces and appearing like a phony latter-day hippie, says he had a “convo” with a fellow employee who said Harold was acting “wibbly-wobbly.” Cayly wonders if Harold is experiencing “cubicle fever.” Harold sits in a chair in front of a large phony backdrop depicting the sky with clouds. It probably is meant to make a person entrapped in one of those cubicles feel like the worker is outside. But Harold may feel like his head is starting to soar above the mundane, as the clouds appear to be moving behind him, despite his denial that anything is “wrong” with him that would prevent his ability to perform his bureaucratic duties. The Voice calls Cayly an idiot as the man talks about “trees” being trees. Harold can’t dispel the smell of brownies from the bakery and the seductive nature of Ms. Pascal. Cayly tells Harold he should take an overdue vacation, which turns out to be good advice.

While on the street, the Voice says that Harold’s watch was acting up, and Harold never paid attention to it except to find out the time, which, according to the Voice, drove the watch “crazy.” Again, the instrument takes on human characteristics, as the machine apparently has more of a will than does Harold at this point. The Voice says that the watch then stopped, and would become an instrument of “fate” leading to Harold’s death. When Harold hears about his impending demise, he uncharacteristically yells out alarmed questions about this prediction among startled people waiting for the bus. He goes back to his apartment calling for answers as he duplicates the circumstances when he first heard the Voice, ritualistically brushing his teeth. But the communication is only one-way, from writer to character. Since Eiffel is unsure as to how to do away with Harold, no further information is forthcoming. In a frustrated frenzy, Harold becomes his own narrator, describing how he is shaking a lamp around, smashing it to the floor, and kicking it. In a sense he has taken charge of his actions in a sort of emancipation. He continues to narrate as he trashes his place. He addresses himself in the third person, like he is now the author, and describes himself as “distraught,” a human emotion he has not allowed himself to experience.

Harold sees a psychiatrist, Dr. Mittag-Leffler (Linda Hunt), who says what he is describing is schizophrenia. He disagrees because with that condition, a voice tells the person to do something. But the Voice Harold hears describes what he has already done, or is doing, “accurately and with a better vocabulary” than he would be able to produce. Harold correctly says that the female Voice talks about him like he is “a character in my own life.” The problem is the Voice comes and goes, so he does not have access to the whole tale, and needs that information to prevent his death. He doesn’t want medication and asks if what he is hearing, even if it is in his own mind, is a story about himself, then what would be her advice. She says to go see someone who knows literature, which Harold thinks is a good idea. 

Now is where Hoffman’s character, Professor Jules Hilbert, appears, and he says it is “dramatic irony” that the narrator won’t say how long Harold has to live. So, we have been presented with real life, fiction and its interaction with reality, and now we have a literary critic to analyze this combination. Hoffman is very funny as his character delivers rapid lines without inflection as he performs other actions, including brushing his teeth or giving swimming lessons. He asks insightful questions, such as the number of steps they climbed, or the number of ceiling tiles in the bathroom, noticing Harold was counting. The professor has made an accurate conclusion about Harold’s mathematical obsessive-compulsive disorder. Hilbert wants to know if Harold was ever married, finding out that the taxman was engaged to a fellow auditor who left him for an actuary. Hoffman comically comments on the blandness of the life of numbers by saying, “How heartbreaking.” He finds out Harold lives alone and has no pets, which points to his socially vacant life. Hilbert discovers it is an unfamiliar woman’s voice doing the narration, and that Harold is worried about her death prediction since she was right about how he disliked his job. At first Hilbert dismisses his ability to help since he is a literature person and Harold’s story doesn’t sound very literary. But when Harold says that the Voice said to him, “Little did he know ...” Hilbert becomes interested since that phrase is a literary convention, and he says he wrote papers on “little did he know,” and taught classes on it. (Being a person who attended graduate school as an English major, I can attest that is the kind of overly scholastic statement a professor would say). His conclusion is that Harold doesn’t know what is happening which moves his story away from a purely psychological problem to the professor’s area of expertise. Hilbert is here to help, but like Penny, it is not yet personal for him, since he asks Harold to come back on Friday, but then remembers the man’s death may be “imminent,” so he might be dead soon, and Hilbert doesn’t want to miss out on this intellectual project. He wants Harold to show up the next morning.

The Voice announces the arrival of Ana on the bus on which Harold is riding just as he is questioning his way of life. She wants to avoid him, but the rocky ride places her in a chair near him. He apologizes for “ogling her,” and she accepts his being sorry for his poor manners. He jokes now, a departure for him, because of her rebellious ways, asking if she is going to a flag-burning event. She returns the humor saying she was going to her “weekly evil-conspiracy and needlepoint group.” He continues the funny exchange by saying he can’t join her because he left his “thimbles and socialist reading material at home.” Ana laughs and the Voice says that Harold didn’t want to ruin the meeting by making a fool of himself, probably being aware of his social inexperience, and left the bus many blocks before his stop. 

Harold visits the professor as arranged. The scholar has several questions from a literary stance about the Voice, and again Hilbert does not seem considerate of Harold’s feelings. His questions imply that Harold lives in a world of fiction, asking him if he has received any gifts, like a wooden horse, referencing The Iliad. He wants to know if Harold is the king of anything, and makes references to trolls. Harold, who is having a fantasy experience, still finds the questions ludicrous since otherwise his life is excruciatingly ordinary. Hilbert then ventures into other narrative elements, asking if Harold was ever made of “stone, wood, lye, varied corpse parts,” the latter referring to Frankenstein. The professor says he is attempting to find out what kind of story Harold is in, and he has ruled out much of Greek literature, several fairy tales, Chinese fables, and that Harold is not Miss Marple, Scout Finch, or a “golem.” The professor believes Harold should be relieved that he is not one of the latter. Hilbert seems outlandish, but so is Harold’s predicament.

Meanwhile, Eiffel is out in the pouring rain with Penny as the writer imagines herself driving and going off a bridge to her death after avoiding that child on that same bicycle. She is taking what she has physically perceived and is attempting to transform those impressions into part of her story. Ironically, the opposite is true, since her fiction has manifested itself into Harold’s actual life simply by calling her character Harold Crick. Penny says that many people die from pneumonia by exposing themselves to inclement weather, voicing her disdain for being outside in the storm. Eiffel’s attention is only drawn to how she might give Harold pneumonia instead of worrying about her own health. Her immersion into her tale has removed her from being part of reality, just like the characters in a book. Penny now is showing more concern for the writer than her work by bringing her nicotine patches to help (that word again) her quit smoking. Eiffel is not interested in nicotine patches for her own well-being, as she notes she is not “in the business of saving lives” in her writing, but just “the opposite.” Her fiction mirrors her outlook on life, at least at this point.

The movie shifts back to the professor asking Harold questions. Harold’s favorite word is “integer,” which is funny, sad, and appropriate. Harold confesses to only wanting one thing more out of his life, which is to play the guitar. So, there is this seed of whimsy and artistry hidden inside his tamped down personality. Hilbert says they must determine if he is in a “comedy or a tragedy.” He says literature has the opposing elements of continuity of life and the inevitability of death. He says (and these are standard elements of the two forms) in comedies the protagonists get married in order to produce offspring, and in tragedy the main character dies. Hilbert points out that in comedies, the romantic interest enters and initially hates the protagonist. Harold tells Hilbert that he met Ana who despised him. Hilbert says it sounds like the making of a comedy, and Harold should develop that, as if he is giving an assignment to a creative writing student. Only Harold’s story is taking place in reality (although not really, because, yes, it is a movie). The film here is investigating, within a fictional story, the conventions on which it is based, reflecting on the world of art which it is a part of. But, it also is stepping outside the traditional narrative structure by satirizing standard storytelling by commenting on it. 

Harold tabulates what interactions with Ana seem like they fit under the comedy and tragedy headings. She says she is paying only what she believes she owes, and he tries to make a joke by saying he needs to know the amount of her delinquency to determine the “size of her cell.” The remake doesn’t go over well, so he gets down to business, trying to make sense of her mess of tax files. Her messy life and the eccentric customers in her bakery contrast with Harold’s mathematically precise mindset. 

At the end of the day auditing Ana’s sloppy records, the bakery is closed and she offers Harold a cookie. He says he doesn’t like them, which is like admitting he does not sensually indulge himself in anything. His mother didn’t bake and he only ate store-bought cookies as a child. Despite her animosity for Harold’s job, she shows compassion for him, helping him (the movie’s primary theme), and offers him a chance to enjoy himself. Acting maternal and nurturing toward him, she gives Harold milk with his cookie and tells him to dip it. He deeply enjoys the new experience. He asks when she decided to be a baker, and it happened while she was a student at Harvard Law School, which one would not have thought she attended. She dropped out and says she barely was admitted, mainly because of her essay about wanting to make the world a better place (more helpfulness). She still seems committed to that enterprise based on her resistance to certain government spending noted earlier. There are also postings on the bulletin board in the bakery about various humanitarian causes. Her good will efforts took the shape of her baking during late night study sessions with classmates, and that is how she found her calling. She made students happy, which improved their grades. She developed a following and decided in order to make the world a better place she would “do it with cookies.” As she lists the types of desserts she began to make, Harold looks aroused as the desires for satisfying appetites appear to stimulate him and bring him to life. She wants to give him cookies to take home, but he reverts to his rule-dominated stance by noting the offer would be a gift and it would compromise him if it came to light. She says that she wouldn’t tell anyone, but he says he should purchase the desserts. Because she feels she didn’t touch his humanity and he didn’t trust her, she becomes upset and tells him to leave. He realizes that she specifically baked the cookies for him, and was just being nice. He says he “blew it,” and after seeing all the tallied strokes on the negative side of his ledger, he concludes he is in a “tragedy.”

Back with Professor Hilbert, Harold says he has failed with Ana and in his attempts at making his story a comedy. Hilbert says it appears that Harold is driving the plot as he acts and the Voice responds to his actions. Hilbert, again commenting on the writing process we are actually experiencing as we view the story, says plots move forward either by external forces or by the behavior of characters. Harold’s story seems to be dependent on his actions, so Hilbert says do nothing, which will prevent his demise. Hilbert is starting to try to help Harold as a person, not a make-believe creation.

Harold tries to stay on his couch the next day, as he watches documentaries on animals being preyed upon or captured, which mirrors his fears about what is happening to him. He doesn’t even answer his phone. But as he watches his television, a huge crane bashes through the wall of his apartment. He yells at the demolition men, who accidentally were at the wrong address. Back with Hilbert, the professor, analyzing storytelling as usual, says “meeting with an insurance agent the day your policy runs out is coincidence. Getting a letter from the emperor saying he’s visiting is plot. Having your apartment eaten by a wrecking ball is something else entirely.” He concludes that Harold does not control his ultimate “fate,” and Harold also has come to the same sobering belief. 

As they continue their discussion outside the classroom, Hilbert says the narrator may very well kill him, so he should just live his life by having an adventure, or just “finish reading Crime and Punishment,” (I know I have thought I didn’t want to die before reading a special book), or eating “pancakes.” Harold is outraged that he should use the remainder of his life by just eating pancakes, but Hilbert is funny but insightful when he says that it depends on the life being led and the “quality of the pancakes.” If Harold’s life has been so unsatisfying, the consumption of good food may be the way to go. Harold says that what is happening is not philosophy or a story about him, it’s his life. Hilbert says he should then make his life the one he always wanted. Hilbert shows real concern for Harold’s status here. Actually, Hilbert’s remarks fit everyone, since we all are mortal, and we should ask ourselves what do we do to maximize the time we have? 

Harold crashes at his friend Dave’s place, since his own apartment has been literally crashed. Dave’s apartment looks like someone into Space Age technology decorated it. He, too, seems to want to break out of his dreary adult life by accessing the imagination of the child within him. That is why Dave says that if he knew he was going to die soon, he would go to Space Camp. His friend’s bucket list choice seems to inspire Harold. While brushing his teeth Harold defiantly changes the manner of his dental routine, trying to take matters into his own hands. He goes into a music store as the Voice notes how Harold counts all the instruments and their parts, showing how difficult it is for him to break his cold, mathematical preoccupation. He said before he always wanted to play the guitar, but the Voice says Harold seemed to only be able to “stand” there without doing anything. The Voice says that Harold had trouble finding a guitar that “spoke” to him, meeting his needs. The Voice is comical as she notes several funny lines the various guitars may be saying, including one with two long necks that said it was “compensating” for something else. The narrator says Harold spotted the one that called to him, a mistreated instrument (like Harold?) that still “spoke with conviction and swagger,” characteristics Harold possibly wished to exhibit. It said to Harold, “I rock,” while Harold in his life just let things roll over him.

 Eiffel is with Penny in a hospital emergency room looking for ways people might die. They observe a man being treated for a gunshot wound. The author is still trying to determine how to end Harold’s life, but the victim here was in a gang fight, and his situation doesn’t fit Harold’s non-gang member status. There is a man there staring at the patients, and Eiffel says he just likes to look at sick people. Penny humorously observes that Eiffel made her comment “oddly with disdain,” since that is exactly what the writer is doing. Eiffel says they are in the wrong place and need to see people who are lost causes. She tells a nurse that it’s fine that the people there are sick and suffering, but she needs to observe the terminal. The woman asks if Eiffel is afflicted with something, and she responds, “only writer’s block.” We laugh at her response, but she is detached from the world she is supposed to be channeling in her writing, and in that distancing she mirrors Harold and Hilbert, although the latter two are showing some emotional growth. 

The Voice says that with every “strum” of his guitar Harold “became stronger in who he was, what he wanted and why he was alive.” His music, a form or artistic expression (as is literature and film) adds human dimension to Harold’s soul. He now cohabited with Dave, so he was no longer alone, and ate his meals with his friend. He didn’t count brushstrokes while cleaning his teeth, or steps to a bus stop, and didn’t wear neckties (a form of bondage when you think about it). The impact of art is stressed as Harold goes to the movies (he views Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, appropriate for what Harold is going through) and did what song lyrics advocated, as he “lived his life.” There is a quick shot of Harold rising in an elevator, a metaphor for his ascending spirit.

But the narrator points out that “Harold’s journey was still incomplete.” Harold visits Ana, and he brings her “flours,” in numerous bags, not flowers, which would be the typical romantic gesture, since she is, after all, a baker. He tells her flat out that he “wants” her, and he really hasn’t said that to anyone before, expressing his needs. He now doesn’t care about breaking any rules that would prohibit such a relationship, and in that sense, he is connecting with her rebellious nature. 

She asks him to bring his gift up to her place. She makes him dinner (appetites being satisfied again), and he tells humorous stories about his encounters in his job. She has a guitar, but doesn’t play. He says he knows only one song, and she wants him to play it. His old instincts make him refuse at first, but he overcomes the resistance to let go of restraints, and plays. He sings “Go the Whole Wide World,” which urges a search for that special girl. She is won over, and passionately kisses him. She now says she “wants” him, too, and they make love.

Harold visits Hilbert and says triumphantly that he is in a comedy since the woman who initially hated him is now falling in love with him. Hilbert says that’s wonderful but it invalidates a list of seven living authors who could be writing his story given the tragic course his plot was following. In a coincidence (whose elements Hilbert described earlier), a contrived one here, Kay Eiffel, a favorite Hilbert writer, is being interviewed on the TV in the professor’s office. Harold realizes that it is Eiffel’s voice he is hearing, and the book she is writing, appropriately titled Death and Taxes, fits Harold’s situation. It is about, she says, not being able to connect with life and the “looming certainty of death.” When he tells Hilbert hers is the Voice, he is upset because she wasn’t on his list as the interview is ten years old, and she has not published anything lately and became a recluse. He taught a class on her writings, and he has tried to find her. He says she kills all of her heroes. Harold goes off to track her down through her publisher.

Eiffel is out getting cigarettes (a way of killing herself off, too?), and she notices a grocer spilling some apples, one of which rolls into the street, which reminds us of how Harold would chew on an apple on his way to catch his bus. She comes back to her apartment and tells Penny she knows how to kill Harold. She believes her way will be “ironic” and “possibly heartbreaking.” 

Meanwhile Harold is kicked out of the publishing house. But, he uses the IRS computer system (which, let’s face it, is one inclusive database) to acquire Eiffel’s phone number. She is now narrating Harold’s stifled attempts to make a call as the phones are down at his office and Dave can’t get a signal on his cell to help him. An old man is hogging the pay phone on the street. Harold goes into the subway and dials Eiffel’s number, and as she types “the phone rang,” Eiffel’s phone does in fact ring out. Eiffel is intrigued because every time she writes that the phone rings, hers does. She answers and Harold says who he is, tells her he knows she is writing about him, and even quotes passages he heard. Even though Eiffel is creating this tale, she thought it was all in her imagination. This revelation freaks Eiffel out. (There seems to be a flaw in the film here, since in Eiffel’s story, her version of Harold Crick doesn’t know about a writer composing his life; so then, why is she narrating about him trying to make a call to the writer narrating his actions?).

Harold shows up at Eiffel’s place, and Penny introduces herself as the writer’s assistant. Harold humorously returns the courtesy by saying his name and adds he is Eiffel’s main character. Eiffel is overcome by the fact that he appears exactly as she pictured him for her book. A writer wants to precisely envision his or her characters, but not to the point of actually conjuring them up. The implication is that people need to have the escape hatch of being able to separate fiction from reality. He points out that “the little did he know” line, which he accurately describes as “third person omniscient,” revealed that someone other than Harold was telling the story. He mentions Hilbert, and she knows him from his letters to her. He tells her that now that they met, she should realize that she can’t kill him. She falters, and Harold asks, horrified, if she has already written his demise. Eiffel is being forced to actually engage with someone on a real life and death basis instead of removing herself from the real effects of what happens to people, and which she only described before. She says she had written a rough outline on the bus on her way back from her cigarette run, but it wasn’t typed yet. So Harold’s fate is caught in a sort of transition stage. Penny, being sympathetic toward Harold, says he should be able to read what she wrote. Later, Harold provides a humorous and sad comment concerning his plight when he says, “I may already be dead, just not typed.” He was already dead spiritually until recently, but the typing of his actual demise is like the carrying out of the actual death sentence.

Harold visits Hilbert, explains the situation, says he can’t read how the story might end, and asks him to read it to advise him. Hilbert reads the story as we see a shot of that boy on the bike, which we know will play a part in some kind of accident. Hilbert offers his apologies but says the novel is brilliant, Eiffel’s masterpiece, and it won’t be great unless Harold dies in the end. He is arguing the importance of the transcendence of great art over the life of one person. He says that Harold will eventually die anyway, and another routine loss of life “won’t be nearly as poetic or meaningful as what she’s written.” Hilbert says that is what tragedy is because “a hero dies but the story lives on forever.” But there’s a huge difference between pretending about the eventuality of a death and actually causing one. 

Harold keeps riding a bus as he reads Eiffel’s story, being carried along by the narrative as the bus carries him around, as a passenger, because he is not the driver of the book or the vehicle. Penny enters Eiffel’s apartment and finds objects littered about. Eiffel is stretched out on her desk, like a corpse on a morgue slab, asking Penny about how many people she has killed off. She has killed eight people, and now wonders why every book she wrote concludes with a death, adding the characters were nice people. After he finished reading the story Harold returns the manuscript to Eiffel who is on the street. He tells her the writing is beautiful and it can only end one way to be great, as Hilbert had said. He seems resigned to endure the sacrifice. 

The Voice says that Harold concluded some unfinished business the night before his death. He visited Ana and she cooked for him, they watched some old movies, and they said they “adore” each other. He gives her a way of deducting all the food she gives away so she won’t owe taxes. She says she wants to make a point by breaking the law. He counters with he also wants to make the world better which means keeping her out of jail. The movie suggests true salvation comes from helping each other.

Harold picks up his human-like watch and leaves Ana in the morning. He gets dressed for work knowing what is supposed to happen. The boy who rides the bike awakes to his alarm clock. Harold handles an apple in his damaged apartment, and we, and he, know that piece of fruit will be there at his death. The Voice notes how things had changed for Harold over the past weeks. He thought he was not late for his bus on this day that he was to return to work. But he did not realize that when he asked for the time a month earlier, the person erred by noting the time was three minutes later than the actual time. Dependence on a set schedule to live your life can’t save one from harm because there are always outside forces to be reckoned with. If Harold had been on time, he wouldn’t have been at the stop when the boy falls off his bike and Harold wouldn’t have needed to go into the street to help the child. But he is there, and he unselfishly, yes, “helps” the boy. A bus then comes by and smacks into Harold as the apple rolls on the street (is the apple symbolic of the loss of innocence and expulsion from Eden?). Eiffel is a nervous wreck, racked with guilt, as she can’t light her cigarette and smacks the top of her desk on which her typewriter sits. 

Eiffel shows up at Hilbert’s office. She hands over her manuscript and says he may be interested in the new ending. Harold is not dead. He is badly injured, and in bandages in a hospital bed. Through the window of the hospital room is a large clock in a building, reminding us of how he used to live by what a timepiece displayed. Despite his fractures and head injury, a shard of metal from his watch obstructed a severed artery that kept the blood loss to a minimum, allowing him to live. The shard can’t be removed so it will remain in his arm. Is this a compromise of living with time but not letting it control us, becoming a tool, but not a self-torture device?

Ana shows up at the hospital and she kisses Harold, thankful he is still alive. He says he didn’t have a choice; he had to save the boy. The thrust here is that self-sacrifice should triumph over one’s desire for personal well-being. Back in Hilbert’s office, the professor reads the revision. Eiffel looks down from the window as she did previously on the rooftop, but she no longer waves her hand like an omnipotent god. He says the story is now only okay, because the ending doesn’t fit with the rest of the book. She says she’s fine with “okay.” She says she will rewrite the rest to fit the new ending. He asks why did she change the ending. She said it was a story about a man who doesn’t know he’s about to die and then dies. But, if he has that knowledge, and dies willingly, knowing he can stop it, then, she says, “Isn’t that the type of man you want to keep alive?” Eiffel has evolved from reflecting her pointless philosophy of life to accepting that we are all saved each day in some way. The title of her book is Death and Taxes, referring to the quote from Benjamin Franklin noting that these two things can’t be avoided. However, at least temporarily, Harold has given Ana a way to avoid paying her owed taxes, and he has escaped an early death.

Using the Voice, she now writes about her new attitude in the new book ending. She says that as Harold ate a cookie (something I find worth living for) he knew things were going to be okay. Eiffel says, “Sometimes when we lose ourselves in fear and despair in routine and constancy, in hopelessness and tragedy, we can thank God for Bavarian sugar cookies.” Or, she says we find salvation in someone touching a hand, or a “kind gesture.” There is then a shot of Dave receiving an envelope from Harold enrolling him in Space Camp. There is the “Subtle encouragement,” of another as Penny puts some patches on Eiffel’s typewriter to urge her to quit smoking. There is also the healing of “a loving embrace,” as the relieved father hugs his bike-riding son who is uninjured. And, the writer adds, there are other small things that make life better, even “maybe the occasional piece of fiction.” Her conclusion is that these small things are here to help and save our lives. And in this story, a wristwatch saved Harold Crick. So, the story of life can be a comedy, not a tragedy.

Next time, there will be short reviews of some recent films.

The Iron Lady

SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

The title of this film, The Iron Lady, suggests a person of strength, but it also can convey inflexibility. In the end, because of the dementia English Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher developed, the movie shows how even the sturdiest of persons can be undermined. Actress Meryl Streep and the director, Phyllida Lloyd, stated that they wanted to examine the gender theme of a woman taking on the men’s club environment during the politics of the 1970’s. 

Over the credits we hear cheering, which fades as we encounter the older Thatcher (Meryl Streep, in a Best Actress Oscar-winning role) in decline shopping in a grocery store buying milk. She hesitates as she considers which carton to choose, reflecting indecision, which was not part of her personality in her prime. A man rudely steps in front of her as she heads toward the cashier, showing how even after all she has accomplished, she is dismissed as a woman. At the counter, she notices a newspaper headline which reports terrorist bombings. Despite her condition, she is still concerned about her country’s affairs. 

She walks slowly on the street as cars zip by her in contrast, demonstrating that she is out of sync with how quickly things are changing. It appears that her husband Denis (Jim Broadbent) and she are eating breakfast, and she is concerned about his diet, cutting himself while shaving, and walking outside without a scarf. She complains of the cost of milk, showing her attention to everyday expenses. Her husband says they will have to economize, and jokes about having to take in renters, which demonstrates this ex-prime minister is not among the elite rich. 

The next shot however shows her husband’s chair is empty, and Thatcher overhears conversation that addresses how others are worried about how she left the house. The problem with her state of mind is now evident. She is cleaning out the deceased Denis’s clothes as he reappears and disappears which allows the audience to experience Thatcher’s lack of connection to reality. Her assistant, Susie (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), talks about signing her books and other events. When Susie mentions a concert of Rodgers and Hammerstein music, Thatcher’s mind wanders to when she and her husband saw The King and I. The camera focuses on the Playbill booklet and we again are in her mind. The musical deals with a woman having to navigate a patriarchal society, which mirrors Thatcher’s own life.

Thatcher signs copies of her book, but on one she uses her maiden name, because she flashes back to when her family endured German attacks during WWII. The young Margaret (Alexandra Roach) worked in her father’s small store. Alfred Roberts (Iain Glen) was a community leader and is shown giving a speech about the importance of small businesses, and the need for people to help each other, but not in the form of “handouts.” Here we see Thatcher’s conservative roots which emphasized not relying on the government but instead on individual citizens taking the responsibility of solving problems. Even though she became an example of a woman succeeding in a man’s world, it was her father who urged her to not join others, but to go her own way. Young women walk by the family shop and she hears voices commenting derisively how Margaret doesn’t have time for their pursuits because she just works and studies. We do see her look a bit longingly at the girls’ fashionable shoes. But her scholastic work is rewarded as she receives a telegram notifying her of her acceptance into Oxford University. Her father puts pressure on her by telling Margaret, “Don’t let me down,” instead of offering congratulations. Her mother, Beatrice (Emma Dewhurst), washing dishes in the kitchen, doesn’t accept the telegram with her wet hands, implying she is cut off by her adherence to domestic chores from celebrating her daughter’s emancipation from traditional female activities, and she seems unsure as to how to deal with her daughter’s path.

Thatcher continues to time shift, and in her mind we see Denis as a jokester, striking dramatic poses, or wrapping his head in a scarf, offsetting her proper behavior. She shows disapproval as he calls her the “boss lady.” The fact that the person in charge must be qualified by gender shows that a woman as a leader is an exception to the masculine rule. Her daughter, Carol (Olivia Colman), shows up, but Thatcher has forgotten that they were to clear out closets containing Denis’s clothing, as Thatcher has taken years to even consider letting go of the past. The TV news shows an IRA bombing of the location where the British Conservative Party was holding a conference, and Thatcher’s face reveals her worry for what is happening to her nation. Forgetting she no longer heads the government, but showing her attachment and loyalty to her fellow citizens, she says that they must release a statement offering condolences to the families of victims and stating they must never give in to terrorists.

At one point in her conversation with Carol, Thatcher envisions Denis doing a crossword puzzle. He gets her to guess the word “obstinate,” which shows an unconscious admission of one of her character flaws as she refuses advice from her daughter about not wandering off on her own because of her mental state. As Carol helps her remember who will be present at her dinner party, Thatcher notes that she always preferred the company of men, possibly because of her ties to her father, but also maybe because she identified more with men in power than women who allowed themselves to be subservient. 

Thatcher flashes back to an earlier dinner where she discussed running for office as a young woman. She confirms her father was also involved in politics, being mayor of his town. One condescending man notes her commoner background of working in a grocery store could possibly be a basis for being a politician, but she scores a debating point by saying working in the family business helped, but “getting a degree from Oxford,” added to her qualifications. She impresses her future husband, Denis, (Harry Lloyd), who is at this gathering. At the party in the present Thatcher shows her more masculine tendencies by asking for whiskey as opposed to the tamer champagne. She displays her conservative beliefs at a young age as she places responsibility on individuals instead of the state. She says, at the earlier dinner, a person should be “encouraged to stand on his own two feet.” She agrees that some people need help, “but for those that can do, they must just get up and do.” She argues that she knows what it’s like to live on a limited income, and her life in her small town, thus, can translate to others. After that earlier meal, the men go in their group and she is told that she should join the women. This segregation of the sexes during socializing is stressed in other films, such as Titanic and Streep’s later movie, The Post. At the dinner in the present, Thatcher shows her ability to speak intelligently about the acts of present-day terrorists who now involve the innocent in their attacks. 

After the current party, a young woman notes that she heard the former prime minister speak at the very hotel years ago that was bombed the day of the dinner party, which illustrates why Thatcher is especially impacted by the act of terrorism. The woman says that Thatcher was a great inspiration for women like her. Instead of being flattered by the compliment, Thatcher points out the shift from the emphasis on duty to personal interests when she says, “Well, it used to be about trying to do something. You see. Now, it’s about trying to be someone.” Thatcher seems to be prescient about the current desire to gain personal attention via social media, and the cult of personality that has engulfed the modern world. 

After that insightful remark, Thatcher then relapses, asking Carol to send up her husband, again associating herself with the male view, to see what he thinks about Carol’s urging her mother to see the doctor sooner than scheduled. But, Carol is divorced, and her husband is now living in South Africa with another woman. Carol reluctantly feels she must remind her mother that she is no longer Prime Minister, and that Denis is dead. Thatcher avoids these painful facts by saying Carol needs to go home and get some rest.

After Margaret lost her first bid to gain an elected office, Denis, playful as always, encourages her since she did very well in the voting. He tells her that her being single and a grocer’s daughter works against her, but if she marries a successful small businessman, such as himself, her chances of holding office will vastly improve. He is being humorous, but his proposal is sincere. She says yes, but warns him that she will not be a traditional female spouse, and never be someone “who stays silent and pretty on the arm of her husband.” She says she will not be someone who is confined to domestic chores, such as washing up in the kitchen, which refers back to her mother when Margaret received her admission letter to Oxford. She declares, stating what she would later tell the young woman at the party, that life is doing something, and “one’s life must matter” beyond being a domestic worker. She tells Denis, “I cannot die washing up a teacup.” Whether one agrees with her politics or not, the film suggests that Thatcher is among those people who live a meaningful life because they possess the elements of drive and passion. Denis, being an evolved young male, says it is because Margaret will not play the role of a traditional wife is why he wants to marry her. 

While looking at a recording of herself with her husband at the beach when their children were young, Denis appears saying it was not like her to look into the past, suggesting Thatcher currently needs reminders of what happened in her life due to her illness. He advises against such activity since he says, “you don’t know what you might find.” He is probably saying that we submerge hurtful memories to protect us as we get older. He says she can rewind the recording, but she can’t “change it.” As much as one would want to alter what has happened, it is done, and the life we choose is what we must live with. Thatcher’s mixing the present with the past can be seen as she thinks she sees her children running through the house as we hear that she won her election to Parliament. But becoming a public figure has its cost, as is implied by the shot of her children running after Margaret and calling to her as she drives away from the house toward her new job.

Now older, it is 1974 and Thatcher is the Education Secretary in Parliament. The director said she used careening camera shots to stress the “bear pit” battles in Parliament and to suggest fighters banging into each other while battling in a boxing ring. Margaret makes an argument in that body against the teachers’ union, saying the workers are fiscally irresponsible, asking too much money and infringing on the availability of other necessities of educational institutions, such as heating and lighting. Opposition male members use sexist remarks saying she is “screeching” and should “calm down.” She wittily replies that the men should listen to what she is saying, not how, and will thus be educated. There are energy cutbacks due to labor strikes. The sanitation dispute has left mountains of odorous trash that Margaret smells as she walks through the streets. Some feel the unions are crippling the country while others blame the conservative government actions that Margaret backs. At a meeting of party leaders, the consensus is that the Conservative Party must not be seen as aggravating the current worker crisis. However, because she is a woman, Margaret is almost ignored by Prime Minister Heath ((John Sessions) until she is finally allowed to speak. She is more combative than the men, saying it is no time to be “conciliatory” since the labor force is calling on the military to join them, which is most likely an intolerable situation for Margaret.

We again see how her father shaped Margaret’s views. She remembers her father saying that hard workers like the shopkeepers make England strong. He is pragmatic when he also says that the Conservatives want to give people the opportunity to achieve their best, but not everyone is equal in potential, and thus all can’t succeed to the same extent. He seeks to nurture children to be the leaders of the future, and that wish comes true very close to home for him. As Margaret in 1974 teaches daughter Carol to drive, her words reveal her attitudes about others. She tells Carol to realize that other drivers are either “reckless” or “inept,” and probably both. She adds, “One must be brave if one is to take the wheel.” Her remarks are a metaphor for what she feels is needed to be a leader. She confirms this need for courage when she arrives home and announces to Denis that she wants to head her political party. She tells him that the men in her party don’t have the “guts” to say what needs to be said. When he proposed marriage, Denis said he wanted to be married to Margaret because she didn’t want to be an average housewife. But now he disagrees with her and says she is acting out of ambition, not duty, as she claims. He is challenging her primary motivation surrounding her belief that public service is meant to benefit others, not oneself. In his reversed attitude, he believes she is ignoring the family’s needs. 

In an interview, Margaret says that America thrives, unlike European countries, because the United States is attached to its philosophy which stresses a belief in future progress. She says England is mired by history, consumed by what was. She feels that the British can learn from the Americans. The men who back her, Heseltine (Richard E. Grant) and Airey Neave (Nicholas Farrell), still have sexist ideas about promoting her which are based on physical display. They say she must lose the hats and her beloved pearls, given to her by her husband at the birth of their twins, which they say make her look like “a privileged Conservative wife.” They also don’t like her voice because it is “too high and it has no authority.” They then echo what the opposition Labor Parliament member said previously that she sounds like she is screeching, a stereotypical view of women by men. She says no matter what she has done, she is not able to fit in with the male dominated politics of the country. But they do find that a plus since she offers something refreshing, and they say they want to “maximize” her appeal. Airey, her eventual spokesperson on Northern Ireland, says that she can become Prime Minister. But, she is doubtful, saying that is not possible; she is only running to “shake up the party.” However, Airey tells her, “If you want to change this party, lead it,” and advises the same for the country. He admits that they are talking “surface” presentation, but he urges that she “Never be anything other than yourself,” which is what her father advocated.

Margaret puts herself in their hands, says she may relinquish the hat, but not the pearls, which shows her devotion to her family. She works at changing her elocution, and altering her hair style. She visits small industrial plants, saying that the growth of small businesses into larger ones is essential to the British economy. She is against the current unions which have changed, she says. She declares that a union no longer protects laborers anymore but instead “persecutes” them, and “stops them from working.” So her emphasis is on promoting the welfare of the employers first. She says that “it is time to put the ‘Great’ back in Great Britain.” Could Donald Trump have been influenced by that phrase when initiating the slogan of making America great again? 

After Airey compliments her in a parking lot, he drives off and his car explodes. The news says that the IRA took credit for blowing up his car, which ties in with the bombing noted when Thatcher is older at the beginning of the film. Possibly these continuing acts of violence may have weighed heavily on her throughout her life. Airey’s words of urging her to be a leader echo in her ears even as an older woman when she looks at his picture.

In the election of 1979, she states that the country must throw off the “shackles” of socialism, suggesting that government programs aimed at the less fortunate in society were preventing economic growth. The Conservatives win a majority of the vote and Margaret is the first woman to lead a democratic country in the West. The older Thatcher looks at the picture taken of her and the other Conservative leaders as she took over Number 10 Downing Street as Prime Minister. The illusion of Denis appears and she seems to want to dispel her current dependence on resurrecting the past to gain mental stability. She tells him that she did well without him before they met and can do so now. So she says to the apparition, “So will you please go away.” 

A doctor (Michael Maloney) examines her and Thatcher lies about not hallucinating, not wanting to expose any weaknesses, which is how she believes she succeeded in life. He notes that she must be feeling disoriented about the changes in her life. But, she tells him, as she told the young woman, that what is stressed has changed. Now, everything is about feelings, instead of thinking. She tells him that one of the problems of modern times is that those who govern are more concerned about feelings than “thoughts and ideas.” Could the movie through her statement be trying to connect to our time, where politics is more sound and fury instead of rational thought? She says it would be better to ask what she is thinking. She says thoughts eventually become actions which form one’s character and “destiny.” She concludes “What we think, we become.” Although quite lucid here as she wants to continue to have ideas dominate her makeup, her dementia is attacking what she holds most dear. 

At home, Thatcher continues to try to avoid her Denis appearances. He points out the problem with long-term and short-term memory contradictions, where she can remember whole passages of Kipling, but has trouble recalling the name of her housekeeper, June (Susan Brown). She tries to block out Denis’s words by turning on all the electrical appliances, saying to herself that if she can’t hear him, he isn’t there, and her worst fear of losing her mind and thus her intellect won’t be happening. She announces in alarm that she doesn’t recognize herself, which means what she identifies with, what anchors her, is failing, and feeling adrift is horrifying to her.

After switching on the television she hears the newscaster saying that supporters of Thatcher say she, along with Ronald Reagan, helped end the Cold War, and she turned Britain’s economy around. Opponents argued that she made “savage” spending cuts that created “sweeping privatization,” thus becoming the Prime Minister of the business sector. A voice-over speech from the past mocks her actions, saying she quoted St. Francis when entering office to urge bringing “faith, hope, and harmony” to England. But a flashback to when she was leader shows a representative in Parliament saying that during her tenure the country experienced the highest unemployment rate since the Great Depression and lowest production of coal and steel since the 1930’s. There are protests about the rich getting richer while her promise of growing the middle class had not come to fruition. While she was leader, some Conservatives even worried about cutting government spending during a deep recession. Riots are shown, but Margaret says that the strong measures are required to bring economic health to the country. Meanwhile, IRA terrorist actions continued, with a bomb going off close to where Margaret was staying, wrecking her room, literally and symbolically mirroring the turbulent times.

While she was Prime Minister, the military dictatorship in Argentina captured the British Falkland Islands. Margaret wants them back and asks why were they left with no naval support. She is reminded that there were defense cuts in spending which she approved because the feeling was the risk in the South Atlantic were minimal. Her own fiscal austerity reducing military presence there “to an absolute minimum” backfired on her in this foreign policy matter. In this case, she tells the Lord President, Geoffrey Howe (Anthony Head), that the expense can’t be worried about now in getting the islands back. Some, including the American Secretary of State, urge diplomacy as the islands are far away and are of minor significance. She makes a good point when she tells Alexander Haig (Matthew Marsh) that the USA did not abandon Hawaii when Pearl Harbor was attacked. She states that principles are more important than practicality when one’s citizens are in danger. She refuses to be diplomatic and listen to the politicians who worry about England appearing as aggressors. Instead she sides with the military. She does not seek peace but victory since England did not initiate hostilities. She says she must write to all British families who lost soldiers in the war, which shows her compassion for those sacrifices. England does eventually prevail and wins back the islands and there is accompanied celebration back home. The politicians who advocated restraint now jump on the bandwagon, exalting Margaret’s victory. In Parliament, her patriotic fervor about being in the right, vanquishing the enemy, and being proud to be British silences the opposition party. 

With businesses doing well and the Berlin Wall coming down, Margaret’s popularity rises. But, she is inflexible in her stands concerning such things as taxes, where she believes the rich and poor should pay the same rate. She says that the poor must take responsibility for the privilege of living in England just like the wealthy. She seems impervious to the fact that the percentage a lower-class worker pays is much more punitive than that same rate imposed on the wealthy, and seems to argue that the well-to-do have earned the right to have less of their total income taxed. She resents “those slackers who take, take, take, and contribute nothing to the community.” Her stance implies that those who do not have the skill or drive of very successful achievers provide nothing to the country and should be punished for their lack of accomplishment. Her anger sounds less like patriotism and more like nationalism, which does not tolerate dissent, and is hostile toward foreign ways of doing things. 

On a personal note, Margaret is condescending toward other government officials. She berates her colleagues for not having the “courage” to fight for her policies and belittles them. She has contempt for those fellow politicians who are born into privilege and have not worked hard for their wealth, and then feel guilty about their status. She is insulting to Geoffrey while meeting with other government members, openly criticizing his first draft of a timetable, calling it sloppy, and declares his incompetence was due to his being “unwell.” 

There is footage of violent confrontations with protesters in reaction to Margaret’s severe fiscal policies. Geoffrey resigns out of frustration, and makes a speech in the House of Commons that shows his inability to tolerate Margaret’s “bullying.” Others in the Conservative Party believe Geoffrey was calling for someone to challenge Margaret for party leadership. Heseltine campaigns for party leadership. She is negligently egotistical in going to Paris to celebrate the end of the Cold War with other country executives instead of fighting for her position in the Conservative Party. She fails to win the requisite votes on a first-round tally to retain party leadership. 

There are shots of the elderly Thatcher inserting herself into earlier political battles. Her dementia tricks her into believing she is in a past conference meeting of Parliament members who criticize her and feel they can’t win another election with Margaret as their leader. She conducts a hallucinatory time travel argument saying that it is the people, not party members, who put her in office and they are the ones that can remove her. Her husband at this earlier time tells her to stand aside instead of going through what could be a humiliating battle. We see Prime Minister Thatcher sitting alone in Parliament as we hear speeches denouncing her coldness toward the plight of starving workers while others state the economy is better, which shows how in politics, both sides of an argument are made, irregardless of facts.

After running the country for eleven and a half years Margaret tenders her resignation. The elderly Thatcher, with her imaginary Denis, spew angry, derogatory remarks about those who forced her exit from office. The film alternates here between hostile internal thoughts in Margaret’s head with her voiced complaints to accentuate how her impaired mental state mixes external reality with her internal reverie. She is insightful when she says that making tough decisions in the present causes a loss of popularity but is worth it if long term success is achieved. She admits finally, maybe a little late, that her family’s happiness was important to her. 

She packs up Denis’s clothes in an attempt to purge herself of reliance on his presence. But, she then calls back his apparition; however, the other part of her has already sent him off as he walks away and says that she will be okay on her own. Carol wakes her sleeping mother up and sees that Thatcher has emptied the closets and bagged the clothes. Despite her decline, she still tries to stick to the independent part of her that drove her forward through life.

The next film is Stranger Than Fiction.