Florence Foster JenkinsVainglorious or whistling in the dark? It's a triumphant and frightful thing to see how Mrs. Jenkins has chosen to navigate her way through her mortal sojourn. I manage to shout bravo!, mid wince, for who am I to judge? Where am I half as confident and undeterred? Willing to make a fool of oneself in the pursuit of a burning passion, is to be commended. Her husband comprehends and her accompanist learns to. So can I.
A word about Streep. Not only is it nigh to impossible to sing pitch perfectly off key, it's also a feat of skill to play a person who is delusional for survival sake, who continually steers her psyche into a new day of her own reality. And then to watch it crumble and tenuously be brought back is something to behold. Streep is as good as she is purported to be. There is no overrating possible in this performance. She is a thespian treasure.
pixote, is it far too late to adjust my nomination ballot? Simon Helberg would get my nod too and surprisingly, Hugh Grant as well.
Not sure whether it has been reviewed much hereabouts, but the film Marguerite, a fictionalized French take on the Florence Foster Jenkins saga, is pretty good, though the singing is just as terrible. (I see the lead performance was cited among the Filmspot nominations.) Marguerite is currently available for streaming on Netflix.
How interesting these were made so close together. I can't imagine that
Florence Foster Jenkins was made because of
Marguerite, since there just isn't that much time between the two.