"People may say I couldn't sing, but no one can say that I didn't sing!"

A distinctly fun film. Took me a little while to get into (not helped by the elderly quartet in the seats around me who consistently felt the need to make asides to each other – and they say the "youth" are the ones ruining cinema!) but, especially after the entrance of Cosme McMoon (pianist) the core characters riffed so well off one another that I was more than happy to be swept along for the ride. On that note, Simon Helberg, best known for his role on The Big Bang Theory, was stellar throughout. I expected (and received) great performances from both Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant, but Helberg was on top form, adding a very welcome level of both humour and rationalism to proceedings.

The film did well to provide a rounded view of the story, which is based in real-life events, with subtle hints at the darker sides of what is ostensibly a feel-good flick. Of particular note is the conversation between the reporter from the New York Post and St Clair towards the end of the film, in which the former calls out Foster Jenkins' possible abuse of her wealth and status amongst society to achieve personal dreams, without a thought for others. The riposte comes across as overly aggressive and unfair, which is accurate for the audience as we're aware that everyone is lying to Jenkins who is, personally, unaware of her own failings; however, it also plants a small seed in your mind that perhaps, from a modern perspective, there is a little more nuance to this tale.

Overall though the film is a humorous, heartfelt rendition of an extremely odd story. If it hadn't actually happened you would probably write off the entire thing as preposterous and just an excuse for great actors to have a bit of silly fun, but the reality of the events makes them into more than the sum of their parts. Unfortunately, due to real-life not working like the movies, the ending is a little flat, with none of our main protagonists seemingly getting just reward for their efforts. McMoon ends up as a failed pianist, albeit one that has played Carnegie Hall; St Clair seems to lead out his life in guilt, never truly finding love; and Jenkins achieves her dreams and has her bubble firmly burst in the doing so. In the movies, things would have played out differently, but ultimately the story does benefit from the reality.