Paramount Pictures
You know when you’re watching a movie with Meryl Streep that she’s going to do an exceptional job. Sometimes she’s completely effortless, embodying the character so that you forget it’s Meryl Streep. Other times, all you can see is Meryl Streep acting her heart out in the hopes that yet another Oscar nomination comes her way (I’m looking in your direction August: Osage County). Thankfully this is not the latter of the two Streeps.
Florence Foster Jenkins tells the true story of the New York grande dame, patroness of the arts who so loved music that she founded The Verdi Club, a place in the city where like-minded folks could go and enjoy an evening of musical presentations complete with various tableaux featuring Jenkins enacting scenes from such classics as “Ride of the Valkyrie.” But what Florence really wants to do is return to her singing, and she convinces her husband St. Clair Bayfield (Hugh Grant) to contact her old vocal coach and employ a new pianist to accompany her. Young Cosme McMoon gets the pianist job and is shocked to discover that Mrs. Jenkins can’t carry a tune in a wet paper bag. Yet her coach, her husband and her friends at the club encourage her because they all know how much she loves music. After several successes, Florence takes it upon herself to book a concert at Carnegie Hall for the servicemen bravely fighting in World War II. The question is will an audience of 3,000 be as appreciative as her small circle of friends?
Florence Foster Jenkins is a delightful film full of humor, usually at the expense of the title character. When she first opens her mouth in song, it will elicit laughter, especially from Cosme’s stunned reactions. But then you begin to wonder if you should keep laughing or instead feel sorry for Florence. The film makes no bones about the deep love she and St. Claire have for each other … even though he has his own apartment and a mistress (only because of Florence’s health issues). But as the story progresses, again you are left to ponder just how healthy that relationship truly is. St. Claire spends every waking hour coddling Florence, and when he decides to take a little time for himself one weekend, she takes charge unaware of the potentially disastrous results awaiting her. Despite Cosme’s directness with St. Claire and the obvious hintings of her vocal coach and famed conductor Arturo Toscanini, St. Claire refuses to be forthright with Florence. Instead, he cajoles Cosme to continue to play along, even when things get completely beyond his control, putting Florence at risk of ridicule and destroying any career aspirations Cosme may have. This is a rare comedy that really hits you hard on an intellectual level by the end.
While the story leaves you questioning St. Claire’s motives, you won’t have any doubts about the caliber of talent on display. Streep gives a bravura performance as the passionate music lover, seemingly oblivious to her lack of musical ability. She works brilliantly with both Grant and Helberg, showing that deep love for her husband — and understanding above and beyond what any relationship should withstand — and a deep affection for Cosme. She could have taken Florence very much over the top, but she keeps her grounded in even the more humorous moments and makes you root for her to succeed. And for someone who can really sing, spending an entire movie singing completely off key is a feat in and of itself. This is the kind of role for which Streep is routinely rewarded.
Grant is also very good, again working well with Streep, making you believe in their romance even as he goes home to his mistress every night. Grant also manages to not allow St. Claire to become the villain of the piece because of his romantic situation or by the way he coddles Florence. The lengths he goes to in order to protect her from harsh criticism could almost be seen as abusive, and he may be taking advantage of her status in order to share the spotlight when she takes to the stage. It’s a role that require some real balance and Grant manages to tread that line with grace.
Helberg, best known for his role on The Big Bang Theory, is a delight. He plays Cosme with soft-spoken, slightly fey characteristics, but he’s able to project pretty much everything that’s on his mind simply through his facial expressions. He allows himself to be almost bullied by St. Claire into protecting Florence at the risk of his own reputation, but Helberg also conveys that deep admiration and friendship that Cosme has for her, even if the musician’s dream of playing Carnegie Hall could end up being his musical swan song.
The supporting cast is also top notch, the direction is assured and not flashy, and the production design captures the era of 1944 New York City well, and if I didn’t know better, I’d swear Nina Arianda time traveled from that year just to make this movie — a testament to her performance and the spot-on hair, make-up and costuming. It’s interesting that a film like this would be released at the tail end of the summer blockbuster season, and perhaps the studio hopes that word of mouth will carry it into the fall and keep it on people’s minds come awards season. It is a film that deserves to find an audience, so if you’re looking for an antidote to superheroes, supervillains, sci-fi spectacles and talking animals, Florence Foster Jenkins should be the ticket.
And if you think you’ve already seen this film, it’s quite possible you have as there was a French film by the title of Marguerite released earlier this year which appropriated the Florence Foster Jenkins story to create its own fiction.
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