Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Cast: Meryl Streep, Hugh Grant, Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Helberg, Nina Arianda, John Kavanagh, David Haig, John Sessions, Mark Arnold, Aida Garifullina, Christian McKay, Thelma Barlow, Nat Luurtsema, David Mills.
It seems that in the more cynical days of the 21st Century, to offer yourself up as having creativity run through you is too paint a target on your back and shout loudly, please kick me, please bring me down. Regardless of your ability, if you have the courage to offer a piece of your soul in the name of art then surely you should be allowed the brief respite of illusion.
To the likes of socialite Florence Foster Jenkins, ravaged by Syphilis at a young age and forced to give up a promising career on the piano, supporting the arts was all she had left to offer and yet despite being unable to hold a note beyond that of a forceful screech or hippo like groan, she managed to achieve something that all of us will never do, sell out Carnegie Hall quicker time than the legendary Frank Sinatra.
If there are any doubters, any hard and fast dissenters out there who still find Ms. Streep’s performance on screen as anything less than marvellous and cinematically fulfilling, then it can only be hoped that they see Florence Foster Jenkins for the awe inspiring accomplishment that it is. It takes genuine passion for the role to give it such execution of spirit, such dynamic, especially when the point is not to ridicule but to praise the courage of a woman who defied all reason and musical sanity to appear for one glorious night at the prestigious Carnegie Hall. It is in that spirit that Ms. Streep captures the allure, perhaps the innocence of the occasion and proves one thing, that to be remembered, even in the face of laughter, is better to have lived in animosity and afraid to live a dream.
Supported by Hugh Grant, the excellent Rebecca Ferguson and the scintillating Simon Helberg as the young pianist and composer Cosme McMoon, Meryl Streep brings the untalented singer but all round good person and fund raiser to life once more and it is a film that should be seen as celebrating the warmth of human endeavour despite mountainous odds.
Florence Foster Jenkins is an affectionate and heart warming story of faith over ability but one that serves a lesson to all, a message that sits at the heart of existence, that to have at least tried, to offer yourself up to love and hope is better than sitting in old age with regrets and dreams burnt like the wings of moth sailing to close to the fiery lamp.
Ian D. Hall