Today's adventure was off to see Florence Foster Jenkins with Meryl Streep in the title role and
Hugh Grant as her second "husband" St. Clair Bayfield. The cast
is supported by Simon Helberg as her Foster's accompanist, Cosmé McMoon. The
movie, based on the real-life, tone-deaf soprano and New York socialite,
is solid storytelling with quite a memorable performance by actress
extraordinaire, Meryl Streep.
The story is
loosely based on Florence Foster Jenkins and her one appearance at Carnegie
Hall in 1944. There are some details left out and probably some pretty
liberal stories added especially for the supporting cast. The actual
details of Jenkins life is a bit more complicated, but historically it is
pretty clear that her second husband, a Shakespearean actor turned manager,
protected her from actual critics and surrounded her with friends who would go
to great lengths to protect her. It seems that she really was completely
unaware of how badly she performed, but among her admirers were Cole Porter and
Enrico Caruso. There is even a story that Cole Porter would dig his cane into
his foot during her performances to keep from laughing. It is also clear
that all the real news critics who attended her one public performance at
Carnegie Hall were less than kind. It was not just one critic as the
movie would have us believe. The real Jenkins collapsed five days after
the performance from a heart attack while shopping and died a month later.
During her life, she released nine songs on five 78 records from 1941 to
1944. 
The center theme
of the Florence Foster Jenkins is
clearly about love and passion. Jenkins' marriage to her second husband
was a complicated one both historically and fictionally. It is clear
though that he loved her, and there was very little he would not do to protect
her from discovering that her music was often a source of amusement for those
who heard her or had her records. She was clearly driven by her love and
passion for music and the elaborate costumes that she designed and wore.
While the movie does mention much about her long-time struggle with
syphilis which was given to her by her first husband. It leaves it to the
audience to decide how much the disease had affected not just her cognitive
abilities, but her ability to actually hear what she sounded like. It is clear
that she did have some musical ability having actually played the piano for
President Hayes before she had damage to one arm in the late 1800's. The
portrayal of her in the movie make pulls no punches about how ludicrous she
sounded, but by the end, we all understood the beauty that she heard in her own
protected and musical world.
The acting by
Streep, who can actually sing, is as usual stellar. She creates a
complicated and layered character which we find both amusing and moving.
She is eccentric, self-absorbed without being egotistical, and a truly
loving character. Hugh Grant is, well, Hugh Grant. He plays once
again that caring and careful leading-man character that he always plays. Simon
Helberg is the third part of this interesting performance bringing to life the
soft-spoken pianist who in later life became interested in of all things, body
building. It may be unfortunate that Helberg has such a memorable
character as his Big Bang Theory's Howard Wolowitz, but the gentle and caring
Cosmé McMoon also makes his performance a wonderful surprise.
Florence Foster Jenkins, while a bit predictable, is a good story. We laugh
and tear up just as we should. It is well worth your time.
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