FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS
Directed by Stephens Frears
Screenplay Nicholas Martin
Starring Meryl Streep; Hugh Grant; and Simon Helberg
Well when I started this blog I was tired of critics telling us how great a film was, then you go and see a depressing boring film. After awhile you realize that a lot of critics are sheep and love films because they want to let you know they are smarter than you and they fall in line with other critics. They forget that films should be entertaining.
So I started this blog with just two questions........Was I entertained/ and/or did I learn something?
So I come to Florence Foster Jenkins.
A wonderful story, and yes I learned a lot and was entertained. I never heard of her....and she was just fascinating. In the header/art on this blog you see that it says the film is hilarious. Well......no.
In fact I laughed just a little bit. I can take you back to the American Idol TV show where they have bad singers trying out in the first few episodes, At first you laugh. Then you cringe. Then you feel sorry for the person singing. This is exactly how I felt watching FFJ. Hilarious no. However a wonderful interesting and a joyous and kind (and maybe mean depending on what angle you look at) film.
It starts and ends with the acting. This film has the best combined performances in a film this year:
Meryl Streep as Jenkins is so good coming off the terrible film Ricki And The Flash. She is spot on playing the naive, head in the clouds singer. She brings a wide range of emotions, happiness as she performs. Sadness as reality sets in. Love, pure love for the people around her. At the same time being ill. So many emotions balled up into one person or one performance. Oscar nom worthy.
Hugh Grant. Freaking Hugh Grant!! Where has this Hugh Grant been??!! Wow!! Playing his age. Playing Bayfield as a man living a double life exhaustively protecting Jenkins's feelings. Is he doing the right thing? Toward the end even he questions. Hugh Grant returns with a character who is not over the top like his past performances. Oscar nom worthy.
Simon Helberg as Cosme' McMoon the pianist. Yes That Simon Helberg. Big Bang Theory Helberg. He comes in and becomes our eyes and sadly our ears watching and listening and you can see on his face the puzzlement of...What The Heck Is Going On Here. He plays the part wonderfully, he walks the line between not wanting to be part of this fraud, to wanting to make some money, to really caring for FFJ. He comes in and almost steals this movie and clearly deserves an Oscar Nom.
Very well acted but like I said with my comparison to American Idol, often it is hard and uncomfortable to watch. Even though Bayfield and McMoon feel they are doing the right thing and maybe they are, there is an umbrella of sadness.
4 out of 5 starts for this perfectly acted film. You have to see this...it is a true story which is amazing.
From the shadiows as always thanks for your time
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