There have been so many great, but forgettable British biopic movies coming out in the past few years, i.e. The King’s Speech, The Imitation Game...etc, that it’s almost become infuriating how excellent all of them are. Game is close to a masterpiece. This is why it comes at such a harrowing surprise that Florence Foster Jenkins while funny, and saccharine, is broken on a fundamental level. On one hand, that might seem oddly fitting because each character is broken in some way. They all have dreams they want to achieve but have failed in doing so. Meryl Streep’s Madame Florence wants to be a concert singer and pianist but can’t really because she can’t sing and has syphilis so the nerves in her hand are damaged. Hugh Grant is her husband, a man who loves and takes care of Florence, but wishes to live with his girlfriend, played by Rebecca Ferguson (so good in Mission Impossible 5). He’s also a failed actor. Simon Helberg plays Cosmere Macmoo, a concert pianist of high ambitions heavily caught off guard by the fact that he’s playing with a woman who cannot sing. Streep is doing spectacular character work that she is usually cast for. Hugh Grant is mugging to the camera in his wonderful British way, and Helberg is using unsubtle sitcom acting, that while less fitting, milks a joke out of every scene he takes part in. All of these elements combined should theoretically create a fine film grabbing for Oscars. But it doesn’t. While all of those prestigious actors are fine in their roles, again, the film is broken through its own screenplay and direction. Grant’s character, as the film shows us, is much happier with his girlfriend while also being slavishly devoted to Florence. But the girlfriend and he seem so happy together and everyone seems so annoyed with Florence that you start to hope for Grant to end up with the girlfriend, which in turn leaves the story of Florence in a place where you don’t actually care. By the end of the film as Florence prepares to sing at Carnegie Hall the sense is one of why does this matter? Sure, Florence is inspiring, but why would you care about this poor, but irritating woman who has all but trapped this man? This isn’t inspiring. This is sad, upsetting, and kind of pointless. That’s what the film feels like upsetting and kind of pointless. Streep, Helberg, and Grant try their best, but it’s the screenplay’s focus on the relationship of the husband that kills the film’s drive and purpose. It will be nominated for Oscars because of its pedigree, but that’s the only thing this film has. Florence Foster Jenkins gets a 4 out of 10.
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December 2017
CategoriesAuthorHello welcome to FilmAnalyst. My name is Stephen Tronicek, and I really like movies. This is a way to get my opinions out to people. Thank you for visiting. |