Directed by Stephen Frears (The Queen, Dangerous Liaisons, High Fidelity, The Van, Philomena) and starring Hugh Grant (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, About a Boy, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, Love Actually, The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain), Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady, Kramer vs. Kramer, Out of Africa, The Devil Wears Prada, The Bridges of Madison County) and Simon Helberg (A Serious Man, Evan Almighty, The Big Bang Theory (TV series)).
Drama, 110 mins, 6+, in English
The film Florence Foster Jenkins is set in New York City in 1944. It features a well-off lady, a heiress, Florence (Meryl Streep), who cannot sing but whose life is dedicated to bringing music to others. She finances a club which appears to be doing well, with the Master of Ceremonies her husband, St Clair (Hugh Grant), an actor who has not quite made it to the top of his profession. While she cannot sing she enlists the help of Cosme McMoon (Simon Helberg), a concert pianist, and a voice coach. However, their help appears to make little difference. She then decides to take to the stage herself and sing, despite the loving and tender misgivings of her husband.
Florence's health is one of the main sub-plots in the heart-warming and comical drama, which goes some way to explain her relationship with her husband who clearly dotes on her. Hugh Grant and Meryl Streep are superbly cast as the upper middle class couple and put in sterling performances of what is a heart-rendering story that is both comical and compassionate in the same breath.
