It would be fair to say in each case, that the best part of the film is the central performance. Without Meryl, Leo or Andrea, films which are already unbearable would be downright impossible - although you might argue that Madonna's film is somewhere beyond impossible already. But it is also reasonable to ask why these three unlikeable people have been chosen to the object of biographical adoration. Let us examine them individually.
Starting chronologically, we have J Edgar Hoover, the subject of Clint Eastwood's new film. Hoover (1895 - 1972) ran the FBI for nearly 40 years, blackmailed 8 presidents, hated gays, blacks, women, radicals (anyone who didn't agree with his point of view), and agents who didn't dress properly. He associated with the Mafia, persecuted the Kennedys and Martin Luther King, bugged and tormented hundreds of innocent people, and supported Senator McCarthy's witchhunt. If we were keen on conspiracy theories, you could point out that the three men he hated most (JFK, brother Bobby and King) all died within a 5 year period, most conveniently, and all three assassinations have an unsatisfactory official explanation. But by any normal standards, he was a devious bastard who polluted American law enforcement and politics for a large chunk of the 20th century. Nearly every president wanted to get rid of him, but was afraid to do so. And - like his friend Roy Cohn (McCarthy's right hand man) - he was a closet gay who persecuted homosexuals. A strange subject for Eastwood.
Wallis Simpson (1896 - 1986) was an American divorcee whose relationship with King Edward VIII led to him abdicating the throne in order for them to be together. She appears to have had strong pro-Nazi sympathies (as did he) and was extremely ambitious and single-minded. Presumably she was someone with whom Madonna felt a deep affinity, although on what basis (American? ambitious? hated?) we are unclear.
Margaret Thatcher (1925 - ?) is probably the most hated British politician of the 20th century (though also much admired by some people - apparently). She was Prime Minister from 1979 - 1990, and in that time inflicted more damage on the economy and the unions than any other politician. She had a relentlessly strident, self righteous and hectoring manner that got up the noses of those who disagreed with her, allied with an absolute conviction of being right as well as Right. And there was the Falklands War, as well.
Take all these three together, and you are hard put to find enough endearing qualities to make one half-decent human being, let alone someone you want to watch a film about. The efforts of three good actors can give a temporary illusion of interest, but look at you tube, see the real person in all their awfulness, and you have to question why they are being inflicted on us. In fairness, biopics are always a tough sell. It's not as if Gandhi is a great movie, although it has some interest. Lawrence of Arabia is a more successful biopic. And politicians who last for decades are even more of a struggle, because then you have the problem of finding an actor who can play old middle aged and young, which never works properly. Even those who die young pose problems. Oliver Stone's The Doors has an excellent central performance by Val Kilmer, but the film itself is a stiff.
Let me know which biopics (especially of politicians or obnoxious people) you think work best.
