British director Stephen Frears is well known for his heavily dramatic movies like The Queen and Philomena. Even the comedies he has directed tend to be on the heavier side. Because of that inclination, a conventional comedy like Florence Foster Jenkins seems like an odd choice for him. Combine that with the fact that the story isn't that interesting, makes it an even more confusing choice.
In 1944 New York, Florence Foster Jenkins (Meryl Streep) and her husband St. Clair Bayfield (Hugh Grant) are patrons of the music scene in the city, putting on many concerts at The Verdi Club, a concert hall that they founded. Florence decides soon that she wants to put on a concert of her own to display to the public her singing skills. St. Clair hires pianist Cosmé McMoon (Simon Helberg) to accompany her, but he soon discovers that she is an awful singer. Despite this, Florence wants to play Carnegie Hall, a dream she has had since she was a child.
It seems odd that this story has been made as a comedy (well I thought it was one) because it's quite a sad story. It almost seems as though we are making fun of Florence because she was completely unaware of her terrible singing voice. The jokes also don't come from the fact that she has a terrible voice, but rather the reactions from people who are hearing her for the first time. The first joke that I did find funny was the tension that was built up when we hear Florence sing for the first time, being interrupted by this or that. I feel like the decision to make this movie was based very heavily on the fact that a French film called Marguerite was made last year and their needed to be an English language version of the story made. Again, I have no idea why, it's not a very interesting story.
Method actor Meryl Streep has gone a bit overboard here. Since she is well known for immersing herself entirely in her roles, Streep has done the same here but to no real effect. In her portrayal of Florence, she just becomes bland because the character has no room to be interested, thus boxing Streep in. Luckily, the other performances are a tad more engaging. Hugh Grant has aged very quickly I've noticed. One day he was young and now he just looks a lot older. And it really helps him in this movie as he's playing a more sedate mature character. He works really well as the emotional core of the movie. Simon Helberg is pretty funny as Cosmé and shows a real departure from other characters he has played. Rebecca Ferguson appears as St. Clair's girlfriend, but way too briefly for my liking.
Florence Foster Jenkins is an unexpected movie. Not in a way that you're surprised at how good it is or how funny it is. The feeling is more one of "Oh, I didn't expect that."
It seems odd that this story has been made as a comedy (well I thought it was one) because it's quite a sad story. It almost seems as though we are making fun of Florence because she was completely unaware of her terrible singing voice. The jokes also don't come from the fact that she has a terrible voice, but rather the reactions from people who are hearing her for the first time. The first joke that I did find funny was the tension that was built up when we hear Florence sing for the first time, being interrupted by this or that. I feel like the decision to make this movie was based very heavily on the fact that a French film called Marguerite was made last year and their needed to be an English language version of the story made. Again, I have no idea why, it's not a very interesting story.
Method actor Meryl Streep has gone a bit overboard here. Since she is well known for immersing herself entirely in her roles, Streep has done the same here but to no real effect. In her portrayal of Florence, she just becomes bland because the character has no room to be interested, thus boxing Streep in. Luckily, the other performances are a tad more engaging. Hugh Grant has aged very quickly I've noticed. One day he was young and now he just looks a lot older. And it really helps him in this movie as he's playing a more sedate mature character. He works really well as the emotional core of the movie. Simon Helberg is pretty funny as Cosmé and shows a real departure from other characters he has played. Rebecca Ferguson appears as St. Clair's girlfriend, but way too briefly for my liking.
Florence Foster Jenkins is an unexpected movie. Not in a way that you're surprised at how good it is or how funny it is. The feeling is more one of "Oh, I didn't expect that."
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