Florence Foster Jenkins is at 91% fresh with 41 reviews in!!!

At least Meryl is African.

I saw the French take on this movie Marguerite and I don't see how Meryl can top the lead actress in that.

French? please.

Just saw it. Loved it!

Saw it Saturday. Awful. I can't believe this is directed by the same guy who did "The Queen." I'm floored that it gets 91% from Rotten Tomatoes. Is Hugh Grant paying off the critics in real life as he did in the movie?

It's a fun movie, good rather than great.

I hope that it makes a profit, because there aren't enough movies made for grownups these days.

I saw the movie. M is good. She's not Jessica Lange good, but she's okay.

Your "first comedic Oscar," M?

Really? Because everyone in the theater with me that night I saw "The Iron Lady" was laughing his or her ass off.

Yes, your performance was THAT laughable, dearie.

Catherine Frot got there first.

That bit in Carnegie Hall when the black serviceman yells out "Baby!" to the blonde woman vamping in the aisle was absolutely ludicrous. First of all the black servicemen were segregated during the actual concert. In this sequence they're all seated next to each other. Uh uh. Very lazy, sloppy mistake by Frears.

Saw it Saturday.

An enjoyable piece of fluff. Several racial anachronisms in the movie - but maybe that doesn't matter so much in what is just a little trifle.

At least there were no superheroes.

She can't top Catherine Frot, but no american cares about the better Florence Foster Jenkins.

R10, being historically accurate about segregation in NYC and the army would have taken a lot of the fun out of the movie.

Certainly showing that other people present had much worse problems than the Jenkinses would have robbed the scene of much of its tension and weirdness, so I can see why the director chose to integrate the scene.

R13, why bother at all if you can't get the period correctly? Your argument is bogus.

German songs during WW2; I don't think so.

There was a Broadway show about Jenkins back in 2005 called SOUVENIR with Judy Kaye as Jenkins. The play is much better than this film and Streep is no better than Kaye was. The movie tries too hard to be feel-good (thus the racial anachronism mentioned above), while the play had some much-needed irony.

[quote]Saw it Saturday. Awful. I can't believe this is directed by the same guy who did "The Queen." I'm floored that it gets 91% from Rotten Tomatoes. Is Hugh Grant paying off the critics in real life as he did in the movie?

I'm starting to think those DC fanboys have a point.

In John Schlesinger's film Yanks the predicament of black servicemen stationed in England during World War II was very well done. There's just no reason for Frears to have gotten this so wrong in his film.

Another error at the concert: Cole Porter walking.

Still, I love that the filmmakers introduced Cole Porter and Talullah Bankhead, with the full expectation that the audience would cringe and think "The two snarkiest bitches of the era!".

Like I said, they don't make enough movies for grownups.

And Earl Wilson was no Hedda Hopper.

I was impressed that Meryl did all of her own singing and Simon Helberg (Howard from "Big Bang") did all of his own playing (at least according to the credits.) When they played the actual FFJ at the end, it was eerie how much Meryl sounded like her.

I had to laugh at the "Soundtrack available on Decca Records" part of the credits. Would anyone actually BUY that?

R22 Meryl told Terry Gross that she was originally supposed to lip sync, but when she arrived on the set the director told her he had changed his mind and wanted her to do it live.

For the Carnegie Hall scene, they used her first three takes on audience reactions (they hadn't told the audience what she would sound like) and by the time they filmed her, her voice was much more hoarse than she would have liked.

Aww I loved Hugh Grant in this.

Glenn, darling! I agree, you gave the seminal comedic performance in Fatal Attraction! Not only as a woman, but a woman that Michael Douglas would actually sleep with! Brava!

Streep will be lucky to score a nomination in what will be a very competitive year for actresses, and there is ZERO chance she would actually win.

And I agree with G, Streep's performance as Mrs. Thatcher was a camp fest.

I found this very moving. No one who is singing earnestly and with all their heart should be laughed at, no matter how bad they are.

R26, some of you DO hold Streep to a high standard, don't you! If she doesn't get at least an Oscar nom for every role she plays, you shriek with outrage and call her overrated.

This isn't an Oscar role, it obviously wasn't written one, it's practically a supporting role in a Hugh Grant film. But Streep doesn't mind doing fluff between her Oscar attempts; this film is not just fluffy, it must have been awfully fun to shoot - what singer wouldn't leap at the chance to imitate Florence Foster Jenkins? All that and a chance to keep working when you're an actress over 65, with all that who needs Oscars.

oscars all around please.

Yes, yes, but whom of the males reveal their buttocks?

R30 should read," Yes, yes, but who of the males reveals his buttocks?" You writing is much like Florence's singing.

She'll certainly be nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical but will probably lose to Renee Zellweger for Bridget Jones's Baby. People love a comeback.

Simon Helberg deserves a supporting actor nod.

No, he doesn't, R33. He makes funny faces to show how appalled Cosme is but that's it.

With the exception of the exterior of Carnegie Hall, none of the streets looked like New York. No surprise since it was filmed in England. Meryl should have demanded it be done in New York so she could hop of the subway from her house in Greenwich Village to the studio

r31 How uncanny, I too is a wealthy dowager!

the dude from big bang is very limited as an actor. his acting consists of him using a high, light voice and that's it. the rest is mugging straight out of big bang.

[quote]with all that who needs Oscars.

I almost passed out when I read this.

R 24, I'm with you. I thought Hugh Grant was WONDERFUL in this.

I shed a tear near the end when Meryl actually sang well to show how Florence heard it in her head—the poor, dear thing.

r40 That reminds me of the scene in Ironweed, where her alcoholic character thinks she's singing fine in the tavern.

Another poo,r dear thing, but without all that helpful cash.

"For the Carnegie Hall scene, they used her first three takes on audience reactions (they hadn't told the audience what she would sound like) and by the time they filmed her, her voice was much more hoarse than she would have liked."

I did it eight shows a week. Never missed. Never had a hoarse moment.

I finally watched this tonight and I really enjoyed it. Streep was very good but I agree this was Grant's film. He was absolutely terrific and I can't believe he wasn't nominated.

I agree, R5, it was awful and —for want of a better word— amoral.

This brainless one-joke comedy mocks opera.

Classical music and opera and other high art forms should be encouraged in our increasingly-vacuous society. Not mocked.

It's pathetic that an American big name brings in big money to fund this stupid project while the talented Stephen Frears can't get funding for his other more worthwhile films.

I watched it on a plane at some point. It was alright.