‘Florence Foster Jenkins’: Streep’s great, but Grant’s even better

Published 1:30 am Friday, August 12, 2016

Even though the main draw in “Florence Foster Jenkins” is the idea of Meryl Streep playing a real-life “world’s worst singer,” the acting laurels go to a less-awarded co-star.

This is the saga of the title lady, a New York socialite who lived from 1868 to 1944. A lifelong supporter of the arts, Florence Foster Jenkins also had the unfortunate delusion that she could sing.

As proved by recordings of her attacks on operatic arias, she could not sing. But she certainly tried, with full-throated, enthusiastic commitment — blissfully unaware, apparently, of her own lack of talent.

“Florence Foster Jenkins” picks up her story as she prepares to take the leap from private recitals, where friends can grit their teeth through selections by Mozart and Verdi, to the big stage: a concert at Carnegie Hall.

This concerns her husband, St. Clair Bayfield (Hugh Grant), because you can’t keep music critics out of a public performance. And if someone should write something truthful about Florence and her singing, well, it would be news to her.

Much of Nicholas Martin’s screenplay is played as comedy, as Bayfield hires a conductor (David Haig) and piano accompanist (“Big Bang Theory” star Simon Helberg in a very eccentric performance). They collude with the fantasy that Florence can actually sing, and happily accept the fees that go with such collusion.

Veteran director Stephen Frears (“Philomena”) lets the actors play with this material, and Streep is — no surprise here — in fun form. As her past movies have demonstrated, she can really sing, and perhaps it takes someone with vocal talent to truly channel terrible singing.

Rebecca Ferguson is nicely grounded as Bayfield’s mistress; Florence and her husband have a caring, affectionate relationship, but not a physical one.

The real delight is Hugh Grant, who (naturally) deploys his crack comic timing but also finds something touching about his character. Bayfield is a onetime actor, now accustomed to tending and enjoying Florence’s money.

But Grant makes you believe that Bayfield’s fierce protectiveness of his spirited wife is an act of love—or at least of old-fashioned gallantry, even if he is a bit of a ne’er-do-well. It’s an impeccable turn by an actor who gets underrated too easily.

A French version of this story, “Marguerite,” came out earlier this year. Both movies follow a safe formula: campy comedy, fun period costumes, and some tenderness. The results are not profound, but at least they’re on pitch.

“Florence Foster Jenkins” (3 stars)

Meryl Streep plays the real-life “world’s worst singer,” a society lady whose off-key warbling of operatic arias is about to take place at Carnegie Hall. Director Stephen Frears mixes campy comedy with tenderness, and Hugh Grant is a standout as Florence’s husband, who’s gallant in his ownway.

Rating: PG-13, for subject matter

Showing: Alderwood Mall, Everett Stadium, Marysville, Pacific Place, Sundance, Thornton Place, Woodinville, Cascade Mall