Just what we were aching to see (not) — a get-under-the-skin portrait of divisive former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. It’s the kind of job that calls for Meryl Streep in full deep-character dudgeon, and the actress doesn’t disappoint even if the project does. Thatcher is shown in the early stages of senile dementia, hallucinating her deceased husband (Jim Broadbent), with her achievements in flashback: rising from shopkeeper’s daughter to Tory political stardom, breaking unions, disparaging people on the dole, etc. At least they left off her afternoon teas with Ronald Reagan and Henry Kissinger. Long before this White Elephant Supreme comes to an end, we’re wondering why director Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia!) and screenwriter Abi Morgan (Shame, Brick Lane) decided to make such an enervating drama in the first place — other than to give Streep another mountain to climb. Costarring Richard E. Grant. (105 min.) By Kelly Vance