​FILMS

ricki and the flash

2015 review number 120:

Ricki and The Flash: (Drama/Comedy): 69 out of 100: Meryl Streep can do just about anything. She is a Hollywood icon and rightly so. She's played everything from an Australian wrongly accused of murder to a British Prime Minister. Along the way she has amassed 19 Academy Award nominations for 3 wins. Could this role as a has-been rock chick be nomination number 20? It's a showy role which required her to learn to play the guitar so that might be enough to sway the judges.

 

Ricki (Meryl Streep) recorded one album back in the day and now performs with her band, The Flash. She doesn't earn enough from her gigs so she works a day job as a sales assistant at a supermarket. She left her family many years ago to pursue her dream as a singer and musician. One day, her ex-husband, Pete (Kevin Kline) calls her in an emergency. He wants her to return to Indianapolis where their daughter, Julie (Mamie Gummer) has become suicidal due to her break-up with her husband. Julie blames Linda, as she is still known by her family and friends, for the way she feels about life. Linda's two other children, Joshua (Sebastian Stan) and Adam (Nick Westrate) also still haven't forgiven her for leaving them.

 

The two standouts in this production are the music and Meryl Streep's acting. They both elevate the film's status to a much higher level than it deserves for the story is quite standard. Diablo Cody received an Oscar for her screenplay to Juno but there isn't as much of the biting social commentary here than was evident in her Oscar winning screenplay. There are moments however where the dysfunctional family element is funny and holds your attention. The interactions between the actors are solid even though there are some occasions when the story is simply going through the motions.

 

Streep brings vitality and energy to her role as a wannabe rock singer who can't let go of her dreams. She is ably supported by other cast members such as Kline, her real-life daughter Gummer and Rick Springfield who plays her fellow bandmate and lover, Greg. The best acting moments occur when the characters are having a go at each other, which some viewers might describe as melodrama, but it is acceptable melodrama at that.

 

There's many songs performed by Ricki and The Flash. Streep demonstrates a fine singing voice which she has also utilised in musicals such as Mamma Mia and Into the Woods. There is a mixture of original compositions and cover songs. The songs are filmed in an electric and captivating style, and you'll feel like you are actually there in the audience when they are performing. Jonathan Demme is the director and he has handled the music and acting well. He seems to extract excellent performances from the actors he directs as he has directed such films as The Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia and Rachel Getting Married.

 

If you are a fan of Meryl Streep's acting, see this movie for her performance alone. There are other aspects of the film that should appeal to you but it's her acting and singing which will enable this film to be remembered in years to come.

 

Starring Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Mamie Gummer and Rick Springfield

(101 minutes)

Parental advice: Coarse language, sexual references, adult themes and drug use

Additional scene during or after credits: Yes, during the credits Ricki and The Flash perform a song at a wedding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8PVK6Hky2A (Movie trailer)

 

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