Florence Foster Jenkins

In Brief: While I may not find myself among the target demographic for this biopic about the world's worst opera singer, even I found it to be a largely entertaining diversion. It may not be my favorite of director Stephen Frears’ films, but it’s in the top 10 (if not the top five), and is an undeniably impressive period piece considering its relatively modest budget. That said, the film is not without its flaws, with most of these deficiencies derived from Nicholas Martin’s script. The narrative is almost entirely devoid of character development, and its principal characters remain largely unchanged by the story’s end. The closest thing this film has to a villain might be reality itself — never the easiest story to write. But tremendous performances from Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant redeem the film, and that’s an immeasurable boon to audiences everywhere. Without them, this movie would have almost certainly descended into a meaningless exercise in mawkish sentimentality.