Florence Foster Jenkins

[ladams888]

Saw this yesterday in a completely packed Wimbledon Odeon. I really enjoyed it - apart from being interrupted by all the late arrivals, who then wandered around looking for seats. Meryl Streep (who can actually sing very well) was totally believable as the extremely wealthy but tone-deaf extrovert Florence Foster Jenkins. Hugh Grant’s character has more substance than most of his usual roles – although he still played an aristocratic Englishman. Simon Helberg was absolutely charming as Cosme, her loyal pianist. Although not really a comedy, it was very amusing and sad in equal parts. I have just read up on Florence Foster Jenkins and this film stayed much closed to the truth – even the part about syphilis was true. I recommend it - 9/10.

I have also seen Marguerite which I thought was more poignant. I think the love between the couple came out slightly more in Marguerite – as you could see that even though her husband was having an affair, he still loved her and was overly protective of her and wanted to shield her from the outside world.

[The Sparrow]

This bitter-sweet film was a welcome distraction this morning but most of the laughs came from the audience laughing at her terrible caterwauling. The acting was all splendid but it didn't on the whole leave a big impression on me.

Would be interested to know how this compares to Marguerite, which I didn't manage to see.

7/10

I saw Marguerite (which is a fictionalised version based on Florence's life) and found it very upsetting as some people were obviously using her without caring for her. They were happy to take her money though.

Whereas in Florence Foster Jenkins, we found out more about her as a person and you could see that her husband did indeed love and care for her. It also showed how some recognised that she had no talent and for various reasons encouraged her dream.

I thought that both Streep and Grant were wonderful in their roles and lovely to hear Streep singing properly for a short time too.
Florence's first husband was horrid but whilst her second did love her, the fact that he deceived two women was awful. She may well have realised that he was going elsewhere for sex but to say they had an "understanding" was a blatant lie and he wound up hurting both women. I'm sure he would have handled that situation much better.

Nice to see Simon Helberg stretching himself and showing he is more than Howard Wolowitz. Some of his expressions left me in stitches.

I much preferred FFJ over Marguerite as the characters were fleshed out and we found out more about her.

8/10 for me

You just know that had she lived now, she would be encouraged to go on The X Factor or similar so that she could be laughed at and ridiculed on TV.

BTW I've never been to Carnegie Hall, was that the real place or filmed somewhere in Scotland, London or Merseyside?

[nosila50]

Saw this in a packed Edinburgh Omni and have to say I loved it. Meryl Streep is one of my favourite actresses and again as expected she did not disappoint. Hugh Grant was also very good but I have always quite enjoyed the majority of his films. Story was sad in parts, funny in others and the friend I was with had also seen 'Marguerite' and said she preferred this version. Always love to see what happened to the real characters and I would have expected Florence's husband to have lived quite the high life in the years following Florence's death but not so.... I believe he truly did love her.

[prettyxcool]

Lovely catching up with Beate. Greenwich Odeon was absolutely packed.

An enjoyable film, and an easy watch with Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant doing what they do so well. Simon Helberg was brilliant too. Found this much funnier than the French version, Marguerite, which I thought was more emotional.

A nice Sunday morning film. 8/10

[kevinknapman]

Saw this at the BFI Southbank on Wednesday followed by a Q&A with Hugh Grant, Stephen Frears and writer Nicholas Martin and thought it was pretty good.
A little blandly directed and visually uninspired but excellent performances make it worth watching. Meryl Streep is dependably good and Hugh Grant surprisingly so, while Simon Helberg provided fine comic support.
On balance I think Marguerite is a better take on this story (albeit a fictional one) but this is decent enough.

The Q&A after was entertaining if occasionally awkward with Hugh Grant and director Stephen Frears making for a fine comedy double act.

One unexpected side effect of watching a film where Simon Helberg spends most of the time at a piano - I now have this song stuck in my head.

[Diamond1]

This film was so much more entertaining than I expected. OK, so she is a spoilt, rich lady but I still somehow felt sad. Well acted, never boring and well worth watching despite the not very flattering reviews.

[raj101]

v good film to catch on iplayer.

Must be a good film if they can make a decent watch of such a spoilt waste of space of a central character, she's a totally daft cow is FFJ. Clever film makers and Streep for making it entirely watchable.