Meryl Streep’s greatest hits

“The Bridges of Madison County” (1995). For awhile, it seemed like a joke: the world’s most honored actress had signed on to star in Clint Eastwood’s adaptation of a soapy, widely reviled best-seller about a secret love affair. But Eastwood and Streep managed to triumph over the material and create a weepie of considerable emotional validity.

“Adaptation” (2002). One of Streep’s goofiest movies, Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman’s attempt to film Susan Orlean’s non-fiction book, “The Orchid Thief,” is partly a satire about the impossibility of the adaptation process. The showiest roles go to Nicolas Cage and Chris Cooper (who won an Oscar), but Streep’s subtler work as the less flamboyant Orlean helps to hold the film together. There is, however, nothing she can do to save the ridiculous finale, which comes off as a flat admission on the part of the filmmakers that they don’t have a clue either.

“Angels in America” (2003). Mike Nichols’ excellent TV movie of Tony Kushner’s landmark play is many things. Not least among them: a showcase for Streep’s versatility (which Nichols had already demonstrated by casting her in “Silkwood,” “Postcards” and “Heartburn”). She plays four roles, including Ethel Rosenberg, a Mormon housewife and a rabbi — and of course she nails them all.

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