The film, “Florence Foster Jenkins,” hits a lot of sour notes.

That’s to be expected.

Florence Foster Jenkins (1868 - 1944), a Wilkes-Barre native, inherited her parents’ fortune and became a New York City arts philanthropist. Though an accomplished pianist, her vaulting ambition to be an opera singer was matched only by a colossal inability to hit the right notes.

Jenkins (Meryl Streep), doted on by her domestic partner, British actor St. Clair Bayfield (Hugh Grant), drew crowds for her amateurish performances at the Verdi Club she founded, replete with over-the-top costumes she designed.

Newspaper columnist and critic Earl Wilson (Christian McKay) was not a fan, and Bayfield’s attempts to shield Jenkins from Wilson’s scathing New York Post review, and her discovery of a copy of the newspaper review, is one of the film’s highlights.

There are a few other memorable scenes, as when a Jenkins’ recital audience member, actress Agnes Stark (a memorable Nina Arianda), is reduced to crawling across the floor in hysterics.

“Florence Foster Jenkins” has a high “squirm factor.” It’s easy to make sport of opera singers. The Marx Brothers’ “A Night at the Opera” (1935) was among the first to do so on the big screen.

It was disconcerting and a bit sad to hear those at the screening laugh out loud at the portrayal of the well-intentioned, if misguided, Jenkins.

One would think the usually impressive and reliable director Stephen Frears (“The Queen,” Oscar director nominee, 2006; “High Fidelity,” 2000; “The Grifters,” Oscar director nominee, 1990; “Dangerous Liaisons,” 1988; “Prick Up Your Ears,” 1987; “My Beautiful Laundrette,” 1985) would’ve made a more enlightened film.

The mostly one-note screenplay by Nicholas Martin (his theatrical screenplay debut) never lets us get to know who Jenkins was, nor her motivation, nor much about her personality, other than that she seemed to love potato salad, lots of it (a bathtub-full, in another funny scene). Jenkins never becomes much more than a figure of fun. One reason: the storyline has been compressed to the year 1944.

Scenes of Streep singing badly as Jenkins are tedious and repetitive. We get it.

Frears also takes shots at World War II soldiers attending Jenkins’ Carnegie Hall concert, presenting them as howling drunken louts.

The film is of interest to fans of Streep and Grant.

Streep does as best she can with the cartoonish role, singing awfully (against the grain since she was a musical theater major at college). Streep again successfully disappears into a role. Streep could receive her 20th Oscar nomination, here as actress.

Grant as the proper, or not so proper, English gentleman who carries on with a girlfriend (Rebecca Ferguson), apparently with the understanding of Jenkins, gives an immaculate performance. Grant could receive an Oscar actor nomination.

As Jenkins’ accompanist, Cosmé McMoon, (Simon Helberg), is giddily charming. Helberg, who plays piano in the film, could receive an Oscar supporting actor nomination.

While the art direction is exquisite (save for circa 1948 Fords and Packards when the story is set in 1944), the cinematography is fine and the Alexandre Desplat score soars, “Florence Foster Jenkins” is a big disappointment.

Four plays, including “Glorious!,” an Olivier Award-nominated West End stage comedy, and “Souvenir,” a Broadway musical that starred Judy Kaye, have been based on Jenkins’ life, as well as a French film, “Marguerite” (2015), inspired by her life, and a documentary film, “Florence Foster Jenkins: A World Of Her Own” (2008). A biography of Jenkins was published this year.

Jenkins could not free herself from the “tyranny of ambition.” One senses Jenkins was more complex and fascinating than her portrayal in the film, “Florence Foster Jenkins,” that purports to tell her story.

“Florence Foster Jenkins,”MPAA rated PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned. Some Material May Be Inappropriate For Children Under 13) for brief suggestive material; Genre: Biography, Comedy, Drama, Music, Romance; Run time: 1 hr., 51 mins.; Distributed by Paramount Pictures.

Credit Readers Anonymous:“Florence Foster Jenkins” includes photos of the real-life Jenkins and main characters at the beginning of the closing credits.

Box Office,Aug. 26: ”Don’t Breathe” took the air out of the weekend, opening at No. 1 with $26.1 million, dropping “Suicide Squad” to No. 2 with $12.1 million, $282.8 million, four weeks;

3. “Kubo and the Two Strings,” $7.9 million, $24.9 million, two weeks; 4. “Sausage Party,” $7.6 million, $80 million, three weeks; 5. “Mechanic: Resurrection,” $7.5 million, opening; 6. ”Pete’s Dragon,” $7.2 million, $54.7 million, three weeks; 7. “War Dogs,” $7.2 million, $27.7 million, two weeks; 8. “Bad Moms,” $5.7 million, $95.4 million, five weeks; 9. “Jason Bourne,” $5.2 million, $149.3 million, five weeks; 10. “Ben-Hur,” $4.5 million, $19.5 million, two weeks.

Unreel,Sept. 2:

“Morgan,”R: Luke Scott directs Kate Mara, Anya Taylor-Joy, Rose Leslie and Michael Yare in the science-fiction horror film about a corporate official who must decide whether or not to end the life of an artificial being made in a laboratory environment.

“Equity,”R: Meera Menon directs Anna Gunn, James Purefoy, Sarah Megan Thomas and Alysia Reiner in the drama about a bank official and a financial scandal.

Two Popcorn Boxes out of Five Popcorn Boxes