After I watched the trailer for Florence Foster Jenkins, the new movie starring Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant, I didn’t think I’d like it.

The idea of listening to someone who thought they could sing–but couldn’t– seemed like two hours of torture. I say that as someone who likes to sing from time to time, but knows better than to believe those incurably polite people who say “you have a beautiful voice.”

But when my mother suggested we go to a movie, I knew it was the only one to see.

So imagine my relief when, despite a number of scenes where “Florence” indulges her dream of singing for the public, I experience a solid film based on a true story, set in New York near the end of World War II.

Hugh Grant is a treat to see on the screen again, and Meryl Streep does her sorcery once more: she actually has a terrific singing voice, yet she was able to precisely imitate the off-key notes of her character.

The cars, the costumes and the sensibilities of the age are all part of the enriching experience. The themes are various: comedy (almost farce), loyalty, and a commitment to the Arts – specifically music. The arts are initially introduced as dissipation or abstraction for the social elite, but as the movie progresses, the arts – specifically music – take on a stronger role: they become a quest and a medium through which the character reveal their best self and nature.

A very well-made film and classic indie experience with a very strong cast.

WH