
Florence Foster Jenkins
Meryl Streep is Florence Foster Jenkins, the 1930s-40s New York socialite who dreamed of becoming an opera singer despite being roundly ridiculed for her lack of rhythm, her lack of pitch, and her aberrant pronunciation. This true story comedy-drama is from director Stephen Frears (The Queen, Philomena) and co-stars Hugh Grant.
- Director:
- Stephen Frears ('The Queen', 'High Fidelity', 'Philomena', 'Dangerous Liasons')
- Writer:
- Nicholas Martin
- Cast:
- Meryl StreepHugh GrantRebecca FergusonSimon Helberg

Reviews & comments

Flicks, Adam Fresco
flicksFrom High Fidelity to The Queen, British director Stephen Frears has a knack for crafting crowd-pleasers. His latest relates the amazing-but-true tale of Florence Foster Jenkins, a wealthy, New York socialite, convinced she’s a chanteuse, despite being about as tuneful as a cement-mixer. Yet her dire singing gained huge popularity in the 1940s, culminating, in a case of colossal cash over tiny talent, with a full-blown concert at Carnegie Hall.
A tragi-funny tale about mental illness displayed on an operatically grand scale.
Genre labels shape your expectations of a movie but they are also manipulated by promoters to influence audience response. Both Marguerite (2016) and Florence Foster Jenkins (2016) are being sold as “hilarious comedies” whereas in reality they both tell a sad story of self-deception and mental frailty, albeit in funny ways. Marguerite is a comedy of...
A Bum Note
Cinema is all about story and spectacle. Not much story here; no real fight to win, no odds to be surmounted, or victory to be sacrificially won. The spectacle on the other hand is Streep and Grant who both give outstanding performances which sadly are inconsequential given how poor the story really is.
Go and see this film.....
If you are a fan of Meryl Streep, you won't be disappointed. This is a wonderful film and I too thought that "Mcmoon" outshone Hugh in a few scenes but Hugh kept his character together.well. Costumes and time period really made for nostalgia especially the end credits giving details about the real people. .
good entertainment based on a true story
a humorous adaptation of the life of disillusioned 'would be' opera singer whose fantasies are brought to life with the help of friends and associates. Meryl Streep's performance is her usual brilliance while Simon Helberg as McMoon tends to outshine Hugh Grant

Variety
pressAn audience picture first and foremost: one wholly sympathetic to its eponymous subject’s delusional drive to delight crowds with or without the requisite artistry.

Urban Cinefile
pressStephen Frears works the material and his terrific cast to perfection, eliciting empathy and sympathy...

Time Out
pressMeryl Streep continues her run of screw-the-Oscars movies with this ridiculously watchable comedy.

The Telegraph
pressA delicious, finger-tingling comedy about the creative instinct that makes your heart want to squawk with joy.

Sydney Morning Herald
pressThe awful truth about Florence Foster Jenkins doesn't fully emerge until we're well into Stephen Frears' exuberant if predictable bio-pic...

Stuff
pressAn entertaining yarn, very competently put together, with more than a few decent laughs, that won't disappoint anyone it appeals to.

Hollywood Reporter
pressA modestly enjoyable crowd-pleaser, but it ultimately feels smaller than its subject, a deeply conventional portrait of a highly unconventional woman.

Flicks, Adam Fresco
flicksFrom High Fidelity to The Queen, British director Stephen Frears has a knack for crafting crowd-pleasers. His latest relates the amazing-but-true tale of Florence Foster Jenkins, a wealthy, New York socialite, convinced she’s a chanteuse, despite being about as tuneful as a cement-mixer. Yet her dire singing gained huge popularity in the 1940s, culminating, in a case of colossal cash over tiny talent, with a full-blown concert at Carnegie Hall.

Variety
pressAn audience picture first and foremost: one wholly sympathetic to its eponymous subject’s delusional drive to delight crowds with or without the requisite artistry.

Urban Cinefile
pressStephen Frears works the material and his terrific cast to perfection, eliciting empathy and sympathy...

Time Out
pressMeryl Streep continues her run of screw-the-Oscars movies with this ridiculously watchable comedy.

The Telegraph
pressA delicious, finger-tingling comedy about the creative instinct that makes your heart want to squawk with joy.

Sydney Morning Herald
pressThe awful truth about Florence Foster Jenkins doesn't fully emerge until we're well into Stephen Frears' exuberant if predictable bio-pic...

Stuff
pressAn entertaining yarn, very competently put together, with more than a few decent laughs, that won't disappoint anyone it appeals to.

Hollywood Reporter
pressA modestly enjoyable crowd-pleaser, but it ultimately feels smaller than its subject, a deeply conventional portrait of a highly unconventional woman.
A tragi-funny tale about mental illness displayed on an operatically grand scale.
Genre labels shape your expectations of a movie but they are also manipulated by promoters to influence audience response. Both Marguerite (2016) and Florence Foster Jenkins (2016) are being sold as “hilarious comedies” whereas in reality they both tell a sad story of self-deception and mental frailty, albeit in funny ways. Marguerite is a comedy of...
A Bum Note
Cinema is all about story and spectacle. Not much story here; no real fight to win, no odds to be surmounted, or victory to be sacrificially won. The spectacle on the other hand is Streep and Grant who both give outstanding performances which sadly are inconsequential given how poor the story really is.
Go and see this film.....
If you are a fan of Meryl Streep, you won't be disappointed. This is a wonderful film and I too thought that "Mcmoon" outshone Hugh in a few scenes but Hugh kept his character together.well. Costumes and time period really made for nostalgia especially the end credits giving details about the real people. .
good entertainment based on a true story
a humorous adaptation of the life of disillusioned 'would be' opera singer whose fantasies are brought to life with the help of friends and associates. Meryl Streep's performance is her usual brilliance while Simon Helberg as McMoon tends to outshine Hugh Grant
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