Heather - It never occured to me to put Out of Africa on this list! It's my favourite movie ever, and a large part of that is Meryl Streep's role and the way she handles her relationship (omg, I want to marry Denys Finch Hatton), but I guess I never realized how much her strenght and independence is a central theme of the movie. I'm such a dork. I have to go and re-watch it.

And wow, so many suggestions. I need to make a list of movies to rent.