Make the Case: 5 Essential Meryl Streep Movies

Trying to write an introduction to a column highlighting 5 essential Meryl Streep movies is one of the reasons why I’ve written 31 of these, before finally coming around to one of the most impressive, essential bodies of acting in film history. Without putting Streep on some kind of ludicrous pedestal, we have to acknowledge that when it comes to Meryl Streep films and performances, words often fail us. She didn’t come by this status dishonestly. While she may work in an industry that defines itself by how it actualizes hype and self-promotion, the hype around Meryl Streep is not an invention. In other words, it isn’t something that lacks substance.

You also can’t accuse Streep’s reputation as a film actress of being stuck in the past. You can’t accuse her of laziness either. She continues to work with characters that are interesting to her first and foremost. One thing audiences continue to like about Streep, which impressively doesn’t influence the way people accept her as the characters she plays, is her continued, constantly evolving fascination with people. Some use that fascination to become writers. Others use it to become actors/actresses, combining that with their inherent talents and instincts to create varying results. Streep has yet to hit the bottom of the well of her own talents and instincts. Join that with her continued, obvious interest in personalities small, massive, cruel, optimistic, and everything in between, and I understand why she continues to be one of the most relevant individuals in her industry. She doesn’t get roles because we need to be reminded of something important, even wonderful from our pasts. She continues to get the roles she wants because she is as vital to film now as she became over forty years ago.

Summarizing all of these thoughts is difficult. It is also problematic, since we haven’t even scratched the surface of Meryl Streep’s ability and career. We want to keep this moving along, since it is easy enough for a subject like this to go on and on.

I can tell you this much: Five movies isn’t going to be nearly enough. I have a feeling I’ve said that before, but the sentiment is closer to the truth here.

Not enough to cover a filmography such as hers, but it’s the format I’ve chosen, so it’s the format we’re going with.

If this column makes its way to Meryl, I’m sure she’ll understand that we like consistency at Make the Case. Even when we’re talking about the winningest actor or actress in Oscar history.

 

Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)

As far as movies go, it didn’t take Streep a particularly long time to be successful. Her confidence and raw talents are clear, even in her first film Julia, released in 1977. By 1978, she was getting an Oscar nomination for The Deer Hunter. That was her first nomination. Kramer vs. Kramer came just one year later, and that was the performance that led to her first of several Oscar wins. In-between those films, she was memorable, but perhaps not quite brilliant, in films like Manhattan and The Seduction of Joe Tynan.

Kramer vs. Kramer might be her first truly “great” performance. Not because she won an Oscar. It comes down to taking a poorly written character, one who receives very little chance in the film to truly relate her side of a story that begins with her leaving a husband (Dustin Hoffman) and a son, and filling in the gaps with the sheer force of her brief, intense scenes with Hoffman. Streep makes the most of her limited dialog. This is ultimately a story about Hoffman’s father trying to actually be one for his young son. Fair enough, and I love that aspect of the movie. However, Streep’s performance is so powerful, so dedicated to making sure we understand that she is more than just a wife and mother, we imagine her backstory beyond what the film actually gives us. Great performances connect to our imaginations, but they can also provide us with a blueprint to help make that connection stronger. Kramer vs. Kramer is Meryl Streep’s first great performance for being a nearly-peerless example of that thought.

 

Sophie’s Choice (1982)

Source: Film Society of Lincoln Center

Sophie’s Choice is so good, with Streep’s performance as the heart of that thought, it is sometimes lightly mocked for its unembellished, nearly-unfathomable subject matter. Zofia “Sophie” Zawistowski isn’t real. There is still a good chance that her story, in which a Nazi doctor forces her to choose which of her two young children will live, and which one will die, is something that happened during The Holocaust. It is drama of the highest order. As Zofia, Meryl Streep is so deeply committed to the character, it is something else that is lightly mocked. It’s a good coping mechanism for a form of art that is as close to unimpeachable as anything in art could ever hope to be. It also reminds us that we are still talking about a human endeavor, which is always slightly off somehow.

But without getting too far into hyperbole, Meryl Streep’s work in this film is still one of the front-runners for a career pinnacle. The movie is remembered, and referenced, to this day, because as likable as Streep is, that element doesn’t explain why this role is so singular. Almost everyone loves, or gently tolerates, the actress to a certain degree, but Zofia remains one of her best characters because she is both a distinct character and a flawless audience surrogate. It is a skill that few actors or actresses achieve, let alone more than once. This wouldn’t be the last time she hit those marks, but it is still one of the best examples from her career.

 

Death Becomes Her (1993)

The 90s were a mixed bag for Streep, in terms of critical acclaim and/or box-office success. Death Becomes Her was successful financially, grossing 149 million against a budget of 55 million. The reviews, however, were decidedly mixed. There is a lot of weird, weird stuff going on in this movie, which goes into insane black comedy territory at roughly the five minute mark. The story of two rivals utilizing an eternal youth potion in their endless, deep hatred of one another just escalates from there. You could make a case that it gets a little anticlimactic.

That isn’t really the fault of the performances, which range from surprising (Bruce Willis), to exuberantly over-the-top (Goldie Hawn). Streep’s performance is the perhaps the most enjoyable, and that might have something to do with her enthusiasm. That is at least part of it, as Streep’s clear love of playing sleek comic book villains in relatively straighter films is infectious. The appeal is a little more than that. Beyond being very good at her craft, Streep has charisma that lets her get away with virtually anything she wants to do as an actress. She rolls all of these things into a performance that dictates the pace, and often our interest, in this movie.

Doubt (2008)

This isn’t the first time Doubt has shown up in this column. The film containing one of my favorite Viola Davis performances of all time also includes one of the best Meryl Streep performances of all time. By 2008, Streep was an established icon. I’m sure someone believed there wasn’t much left for her to do as an actress. They were obviously wrong. I’m at a loss to think of anything to use, when it comes to describing Streep’s performance as the devout, unshakably righteous nun Sister Aloysius Beauvier, that isn’t a cliché. So let’s just come right out and say that she disappears into the role, and she is never anything less than convincing as a woman who believes that a Father at her Catholic school (Phillip Seymour Hoffman, who is missed for his talent and more everyday) has engaged in something improper with one of the students.

Whether or not it’s true is important. Nearly as important are the results of those suspicions, which soon give way to accusations. The scenes between Streep and Hoffman are a masterclass in acting.

 

Julie and Julia (2009)

Source: Aceshowbiz

There are two stories that unfold throughout Julie and Julia. The modern day thread, in which a woman named Julie Powell (Amy Adams) commits to blogging about her efforts to create every recipe in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, is kind of insufferable. It’s weirdly uninteresting, and it distracts us from the part of the movie that deals in a fairly lighthearted version of Julia Child’s life, work, and marriage to Paul Child (one of Stanley Tucci’s best). Streep, as well as Tucci, find an emotional core in the story that some would mistake as Oscar pandering. I would venture to say those people aren’t paying a lot of attention to Meryl Streep’s career. She seems to be mostly interested in parts that interest her as an actress.

Julie and Julia is one of the many examples of Streep playing a real life figure. I understand that everyone has their favorite Meryl-Streep-playing-a-real-person examples. This one is mine, and I think it’s because I can still watch this movie, and forget that it’s Meryl Streep. This is that disappearing into the role talent that I just mentioned in the last entry. I suppose it’s something I appreciate in an actress who never ceases to impress me. I can’t say that I’ve liked every performance that she has ever given, but I would say she creates the possibility of insight into real human behavior in the best examples of her career. It doesn’t make her film royalty. I would say it’s the opposite. I would suggest that even with the fame, fortune, and inherent award nominations, she’s still just someone who really likes what she does for a living. That’s appealing, but it’s also something that is nice to see in someone who has everything a person would seemingly need to be happy. She isn’t discontent. She’s just restless.

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