For almost two hours, they gave us mixed filling, we laughed and then we wept. We cringed and praised at once. The story is focused on Jenkins pursued of her dreams. Even we can say it delusional for how his husband tried to protect her all the time, but we'd also been served the portrait of how love actually is. His husband, St Clair Bayfeld, knew Jenkins couldn't sing, as Cosme her pianist. Was they doing it for the deed? I doubt it. What Hugh Grant said to Simon Helberg in the beginning of the movie, "But as Beethoven said, a few wrong notes may be forgiven, but singing without feeling cannot." really captured the vibe this movie brought. I remembered many of my church member who tried to sing each song right to it's note, without feeling it. But they're forgivable, since they didn't go to many place and saw many good singers out there. But I also remembered many singers out there, many musicians, many great talents in art who didn't enjoy their art for their ambitions to be perfect. I think beside to drive emotion, so is civilization, but art is also about joy. And Streep's Jenkins esp. her husband and her pianist gave it to her.
Maybe as a biographical movie, this movie - as others did as well - stretched the reality. They're not dishing all real things out on their plate, They served dramatized depictions of real Jenkins. But finally, who cares! It was not historical documentary. And as James Cameron said about Titanic, you would not stay for three hours watching a sinking ship, but for romance there you will want more. And I will also remembered one of my favorite movie Big Fish, the story will be just another story, empty and meaningless, but the drama captures the reality and tend to make it colorful. So is the movie. This is maybe biopic about Jenkins, but at the end of the day, we will say it more about passions and love. Two things that make us human.
Streep's Jenkins to be compared with her last two decades great movie performance can be tied up. Oscar's worthy. I don't know, even I adore, yet worshiped her, so I collect all of her movie, all I mean all, I am very rare to be moved by her character. I can say few exception: her performance in One True Things, The Hours, Doubt, and August Osage County - she really played great and mesmerizing. For this movie, she again caught me. Especially in the end of the movie, when Jenkins said, "People may say I couldn't sing, but no one can ever say I didn't sing." after her imagining her actual voice. I cried. Maybe I become more sentimentally melancholic person last few months. But hey! She'd done it for a bigger reason, Sometime we mock up bad people, but good and bad are actually social construct. The real quality is hiding deep within ourselves and it cannot be exchanged by any reviews, any critique, anything. We can be happy to become ourselves, whatever people say. In Jenkins case, her wealth was supporting, but even we aren't that glamorous, we can be happy, enjoy and being fun with everything we do. Maybe we are delusional, but who say that it is not other people that is delusional of good and bad. Day and night are not different, it depends of our perspective.
For those reasons I praise the writer, and Stephen Frears the director (as how my friend ever said that Philomena was a bad movie, but for me, no! Forgiving is unconditional, that was how Philomena caught me), Hugh Grant, and Simon Helberg. I don't care about awards, even they deserved that for noms. Finally 19 millions dollar movie is a small one for Hollywood standard, let's compare to hundreds dollar Superhero movie, but I believe they did it not just for money, Streep said that today after all the awards and recognitions, she did her movie for one reason: fun. "Even I didn't be paid for this one, I still will do it." What is life if we don't enjoy it?
indeed..
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