Florence Foster Jenkins (2016)

From the moment it began it was just too much fun for just 1 person to have. I love Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant is aging well. The story is great fun and the singing is even more fun! Watch it to have a real laugh!

Meryl Streep is great in this movie. I'm always amazed at how she can become ANY character and has such top notch performances in every movie that I've ever seen her in. Even if the movie sucks, she is great. Luckily that isn't the case here. This movie does not suck. Indeed, it's quite a good movie.As for the other actors, Hugh Grant is surprisingly likable and fits well into his role, while Simon Helberg (who I find to be one of the funniest actors on The Big Bang Theory) has a passable one-note performance.The plot doesn't quite go the way you expect, in a good way. I was expecting the main "gag" to get increasing creditworthy and unfunny as the movie went on, but no, of course that would never happen with Meryl Streep. The movie hits some emotional notes along the way and all in all is a satisfying watch with a lot of heart.

I'll admit, I thought that the premise of "Florence Foster Jenkins" (wealthy, tone-deaf, opera-singer-wannabee) was pretty thin high-concept until I found out that it was based on an actual person. Meryl Streep (and the film in general) does a good job of walking the thin line between the obvious broad-comedy of Florence's awful singing with the somewhat sad story of a women with medical (and perhaps mental) issues, who just wanted to live out her dream (and had a lot of cash, which helps). There seems little doubt that Jenkins contributed greatly to the music scene in New York, supported the U.S. troops, and was generally liked. Less clear (at least to me) is whether she was completely delusional about her singing prowess or whether she was "in on the joke" to some extent. I have heard some of her original recordings and she is terrible (and I couldn't tell an A-list opera star from a talented amateur), so whether she simply heard what she wanted to hear (as suggested in the movie) is open to debate. Streep is very good, as is Hugh Grant (in a perfect role for his standard British fop delivery), but as her pianist Cosmé McMoon, Simon Helberg, perhaps playing it a bit too close to his Big Bang Theory "Howard" character, was overly 'hammy' for my tastes. In the end, Jenkins' recordings sold well, but I don't know whether people bought them simply as novelty items or whether there was greater merit in her singing than the movie implies. In the fine arts greatness can come with changing tastes (Van Gogh is a classic example), but I'm not sure if that applies to opera.

It's 1944 New York. Heiress Florence Foster Jenkins (Meryl Streep) and her husband St Clair Bayfield (Hugh Grant) have generously supported the arts. They hire pianist Cosmé McMoon (Simon Helberg) to accompany Florence in her singing. He is shocked to find that it's bad. It's really bad. It's tone-deaf horrendous. St Clair shows real love for his wife but also has mistress Kathleen (Rebecca Ferguson). He engineers success for Florence's small concerts. Then she presses her own record and decides to play in Carnegie Hall.There are real emotions coming from Streep's performance. Her story is touching. Hugh Grant delivers a loving performance even as he hides his mistress. Florence's bad singing is funny and cute at first but it does wear thin. Eventually, it becomes an awkward watch. Helberg's performance does present a problem. He needs to be the straight man (not his sexual orientation). He should be the lens through which the audience sees Florence. It should be a more straight forward performance with less of the effeminate flourishes. Overall, this movie has some fun and surprisingly lots of heart.