Ricki and the Flash

It's hard to think of anything that Meryl Streep hasn't done in a career that goes all the way back to the 1970s. But with RICKI AND THE FLASH, we find out something brand new. She rocks! Literally! Re-teaming up with SILENCE OF THE LAMBS director Jonathan Demme (the two had worked together on Demme's 2004 updating of the 1962 Cold War classic THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, where she played Angela Lansbury's part), Streep stars as Ricki Randazzo, a wanted-to-be rock and roll star who had one brief moment of success in the 80s, but is now consigned to play out her strings (all six of them) out at the dingy Salt Well club in Tarzana with her band The Flash and her boyfriend (played by Rick Springfield, he of "Jessie's Girl" fame). But soon, she has a calling from Indianapolis; the family she left behind to follow her rock and roll dreams is rapidly falling apart, most noticeably in the suicidal tendencies of her daughter Julie (Mamie Gummer, who is Streep's real-life daughter), and her ex-husband (Kevin Kline, teaming with Streep for only the second time, the first being 1982's SOPHIE'S CHOICE) trying to hold things together with a new wife (Audra MacDonald). With real life intruding in, the collision of her love for performing and wanting to set things right with her family, Streep's character sometimes looks like she's closer to having a nervous breakdown than even her own daughter. But with Springfield's help, she comes to her daughter's wedding (with the band in tow, unbeknownst to the uptight, upper-crust crowd there who know very little of her past), and manages to redeem herself in a lot of great ways. Streep, who had done music-themed movies before (having done her own singing in 1990's POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE, and portrayed a music teacher in 1999's MUSIC OF THE HEART), just doesn't seem capable of doing any wrong in films, and so it is sometimes quite easy to take her and her generation for granted (though contemporary Hollywood often seems to take that generation for granted way too many times). Playing Ricki, however, was quite a stretch for her all the same; and she manages to pull it off quite well, doing quite the job of playing acoustic and electric guitars and singing for this role in a way that, dare one say it, could have her in line for yet another Oscar nomination, if not another outright win. This shouldn't take away from the other great supporting performances, including Springfield, Kline (whose wryness and off-the-cuff humor are exceptionally refreshing), and MacDonald, let alone Gummer, who has some extremely interesting scenes with her mother (though reportedly they spent very little time together off the set during the making of the film per Demme's instructions). Demme's direction is also quite good (he refrains from doing the straight face-on shots of previous films); and the film features longtime Eagles/Joe Walsh backing musician Joe Vitale as the Flash's drummer, and a soundtrack that includes a lot of rock classics that Streep sings on her own (quite well, I would add). This is not a typical summer-movie flick with high-octane action (unless one considers Streep's stage presence an example of an "action" scene); and yet RICKI AND THE FLASH will likely end up being considered one of the best films of 2015. It's already one of mine, for sure.

She was Julia Child. She was Margaret Thatcher. She was Mamma Mia. And now Meryl Streep is Ricki Rendazzo, aging, nearly bankrupt rock singer living uneasily with a big consequential choice she made along the way—career over family. Her band, The Flash, plays the modest Salt Well bar in Tarzana, California, but they rock it. We already knew Streep could sing, and for this film she spent six months learning how to play guitar, coached by Neil Young (video). Ricki's lead guitarist Greg is played by Rick Springfield, and you can feel his longing to be more to her, if she'd let him. Back home in Indiana, her ex-husband Pete (Kevin Kline) is dealing with their daughter Julie, abandoned by her two-timing husband, now depressed, and suicidal. He calls Linda—Ricki is her stage name—to let her know, and she scrapes together enough money to fly back to see what she can do. Precious little, it appears—a classic case of too little, many years too late. Mother and daughter struggle to reconnect, and it isn't easy or even certain. Julie is played beautifully by Streep's real-life daughter, Mamie Gummer. (In profile, the two have exactly the same nose.) Some excruciatingly wonderful scenes, including a fancy-restaurant "family dinner" with all three of Ricki's kids, where accusations are the main course. Julie's seething glare could burn holes in a flimsier construction than Ricki. The pain and even humor of the situation are so sharp, you know no matter who gets the check, they've already paid. And, here's something unexpected. The parents act like grown-ups. Pete, his second wife Maureen (Audra McDonald), even Ricki and Greg—show business types of whom not much is expected, perhaps—show what they're made of when it really matters. Director Jonathan Demme keeps the film moving with no unnecessary drag and made the great choice of putting lifelong musicians in the band, including Funkadelic keyboarder Bernie Worrell, bassist Rick Rosas, and drummer Joe Vitale. They performed all the movie's songs live and with no overdubs—Springfield calls this brave of Streep, especially. Academy Award-winner Diablo Cody wrote the script. Rotten Tomatoes critics rating 62%, audiences 55%. I thought audiences would be kinder to it than the critics. The big complaint seems to be the script is predictable, but since there are only what, six plots . . .? it may in retrospect be predictable, but I didn't especially feel that while I was watching, and it was never that corollary of predictable, boring! As Glenn Kenny says in his mostly positive review (didn't like the ending) for RogerEbert.com, "One of the nicer things about the movie is how it avoids overt clichés while still partaking of convention."

I have seen every movie made by Meryl Streep and I think she is a GREAT movie actress. Having said that, this movie is vile! The only positive thing that can be said is that the other actors did not embarrass themselves like she did. Not for one second did I buy her as Ricki. It is the only sub-par performance of her career. Now the script and dialog - imagine a soap opera from the fifties. PLot - from the silent era in subtlety. Direction - the wedding scene is flat out incompetent in that not a single character reaction rings true. Now, Meryl's voice is not unpleasant, nor is it any good. For some reason, she tortures the audience with mediocre performance after mediocre performance for what felt like hours. By the way, I really hated this movie

Firstly, I really wanted to like this movie. It's Meryl Streep. She can act in anything, play anyone, right? Wrong. As much as I tried, I just couldn't buy Meryl as "Ricki" the guitar playing rock 'n roll lead singer of the "Flash." Most UNconvincing role she's played. Having to sit through each and everyone of her songs annoyed me to no end. I'm sorry to say this, but her singing voice was terrible. I know she also sang in "Into The Woods" but at least she was convincing as a witch in that film. Very disappointed that director Jonathan Demme decided to film each Meryl song through its entirety. Just didn't work for me. 2 out of 10.

It's hard to think of anything that Meryl Streep hasn't done in a career that goes all the way back to the 1970s. But with RICKI AND THE FLASH, we find out something brand new. She rocks! Literally! Re-teaming up with SILENCE OF THE LAMBS director Jonathan Demme (the two had worked together on Demme's 2004 updating of the 1962 Cold War classic THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, where she played Angela Lansbury's part), Streep stars as Ricki Randazzo, a wanted-to-be rock and roll star who had one brief moment of success in the 80s, but is now consigned to play out her strings (all six of them) out at the dingy Salt Well club in Tarzana with her band The Flash and her boyfriend (played by Rick Springfield, he of "Jessie's Girl" fame). But soon, she has a calling from Indianapolis; the family she left behind to follow her rock and roll dreams is rapidly falling apart, most noticeably in the suicidal tendencies of her daughter Julie (Mamie Gummer, who is Streep's real-life daughter), and her ex-husband (Kevin Kline, teaming with Streep for only the second time, the first being 1982's SOPHIE'S CHOICE) trying to hold things together with a new wife (Audra MacDonald). With real life intruding in, the collision of her love for performing and wanting to set things right with her family, Streep's character sometimes looks like she's closer to having a nervous breakdown than even her own daughter. But with Springfield's help, she comes to her daughter's wedding (with the band in tow, unbeknownst to the uptight, upper-crust crowd there who know very little of her past), and manages to redeem herself in a lot of great ways. Streep, who had done music-themed movies before (having done her own singing in 1990's POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE, and portrayed a music teacher in 1999's MUSIC OF THE HEART), just doesn't seem capable of doing any wrong in films, and so it is sometimes quite easy to take her and her generation for granted (though contemporary Hollywood often seems to take that generation for granted way too many times). Playing Ricki, however, was quite a stretch for her all the same; and she manages to pull it off quite well, doing quite the job of playing acoustic and electric guitars and singing for this role in a way that, dare one say it, could have her in line for yet another Oscar nomination, if not another outright win. This shouldn't take away from the other great supporting performances, including Springfield, Kline (whose wryness and off-the-cuff humor are exceptionally refreshing), and MacDonald, let alone Gummer, who has some extremely interesting scenes with her mother (though reportedly they spent very little time together off the set during the making of the film per Demme's instructions). Demme's direction is also quite good (he refrains from doing the straight face-on shots of previous films); and the film features longtime Eagles/Joe Walsh backing musician Joe Vitale as the Flash's drummer, and a soundtrack that includes a lot of rock classics that Streep sings on her own (quite well, I would add). This is not a typical summer-movie flick with high-octane action (unless one considers Streep's stage presence an example of an "action" scene); and yet RICKI AND THE FLASH will likely end up being considered one of the best films of 2015. It's already one of mine, for sure.

Potentially delicious teaming of director Jonathan Demme and screenwriter Diablo Cody with star Meryl Streep results in a surprising washout. Middle-aged bar band singer takes time off from her day-job as a cashier in southern California and returns to Indianapolis and the (now embittered) family she left behind for rock 'n roll success. Cody's writing is so facetious and 'cute' (always with a wink to the audience) that her script--already heavy with amateurish exposition--defeats the cast early on; before we can even adjust to the characters, they've been shaped by their clothes and their quips. Demme is eager to please, but his timing is perpetually off. Scenes that should work don't, while other sequences (such as a family reunion dinner that turns ugly) ramble on without a point. Ricki's family all take turns standing on a soapbox, blowing off steam. Cody can't introduce anyone to us without there being an agenda, and Demme underlines her every superficial point with close-ups that don't reveal anything (reality TV has more convincing confrontations than what we get here). Eternally misjudged and misshapen. We have no idea what Ricki has gone through in her career, what triumphs she may have had; Cody is too intent on giving us Streep as a Republican rocker (another clothesline to string conflicts on), backed by a troupe of musicians who are only there to hug her. The actress is clearly better than her material and fakes her way through. *1/2 from ****

My wife and I (both Baby Boomers) went to see this movie on a Sunday afternoon in August, 2015. The audience consisted of mostly women who were older than the two of us. The movie started off good enough...as we both were enjoying the music in the opening scene/s involving the band. We have seen Rick Springfield in concert, by the way, and we both are big fans of his. The scene at dinner, however, with all the people arguing and hating each other literally drove us out of the theater. This is a comedy ?? Who wants to see this kind of hatred and bickering on the big screen? Not funny at all for us, so we left and I could not wait to write this review.