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 woman 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.
Review of Florence Foster Jenkins
