Murtada here. Stephen Frears recent output has been uneven. This month, his Lance Armstrong biopic The Program was met with lukewarm reviews and a VOD purgatory release, while Lay the Favorite (2012) and Tamara Drewe (2010) were both immediately forgotten. However he does well when teamed with grand actresses in intimate dramas (The Queen, Philomena). So we are cautiously optimistic about his collaboration with Meryl Streep in Florence Foster Jenkins. The story, of an amateur opera singer, known and ridiculed for her very bad singing and her complete delusion about her abilities, is intriguing.
Let's break down the newly released trailer..... after the jump.
Yes
The lady is a lesson in courage and that’s why we love her!
- Meryl Streep - duh!
- Meryl again because even when the movie she’s in is not working, she gives her fans a lot. I left Ricki and the Flash lifted on a multitude of emotions because of her performance. If we get half that it will be worth it.
- Am I the only one who misses the Hugh Grant of the mid 1990s? His last decade has been full of very forgettable silly comedies. Can Meryl bring out his best? Like Emma Thompson, Sandra Bullock and Julia Roberts did before her.
Ours is a very happy world
- If the complex relationship, with her husband and manager, that made Florence’s delusions possible is fully explored, we could get a very special movie.
- Nina Arianda sighting! Again Meryl invites a Broadway diva to join her on screen. Remember how great Audra McDonald was in Ricki?
No
She can be a little… flat
- The trailer goes very broad. Is this how the film plays or is it just a ploy to sell tickets? Hope they bring the heart and soul too.
- The poster is ugly. Does not entice anyone to see this movie.
- The taglines are also suspect. Why are they linking the story of this eccentric oddity to “Be Inspired” and “Live Your Dream”? Not only generic but a tad dishonest. It's just marketing but when there is dissonance, it usually means they have no faith in the film.
Maybe So
Someone ….. with passion
- I’ve only caught a couple of episodes of The Big Bang Theory here and there and I wasn't impressed. Simon Helberg seems to have a substantial part here. Will he be up for the task?
- Marguerite, the French movie that is inspired by the same story, is out this week in limited release. Will this one fail in comparison? After all it's star Catherine Frot won the best actress Cesar.
- The trailer and the poster are for the UK May 6th release. No news of a US release date yet. What gives, Paramount? This is not Serena or Suite Francaise… or is it?
So what say you? Are you in?