Ricki and the Flash is a comedy/drama, that's neither funny or riveting, and stars Meryl Streep playing a washed up, wannabe rock-star named Ricki. She abandoned her family years ago to pursue her dream of becoming a rock n roll superstar, but when her family, and her musical career are failing miserably, she is forced to put her life back together.
There is honestly not much to like in this movie. While Meryl Streep's performance was proficient, as per usual, the rest of the cast was weak. Kevin Kline wasn't given much to do as Ricki's ex-husband, and Mamie Gummer was genuinely irritating as their depressed daughter, Julie. Her issues are at the forefront of this movies plot, rather than focusing on Ricki's musical exploits. Julie is heartbroken over her husband leaving her for another woman, then proceeds to mope, whine and over-act all over the movie. The writing as a whole probably contributed to this. Both the dialogue and the overall story arc were lacking. Nothing really happened in this movie. Streep's character is shown playing various songs at a run-down local bar, then hanging out with her annoying daughter for a bit, then reconnecting with her sons and ironing out some issues with her ex and then she goes to a wedding. Along the way she falls in love with her co-bandmember Greg, played by Bruce Springfield. He accepts her for who she is and doesn't judge her for her mistakes like her family, and basically everyone else in the movie. Its pretty cliche, well charted waters and isn't remotely interesting. The two have decent chemistry I suppose, unlike anyone else in this movie, but can't really anchor the story. This movie can't decide whether it wants to be about Ricki re-connecting with her estranged family or her relationship with her lead guitarist. As a result, it's all over the place from a narrative standpoint. A lot of things happen but they don't coalesce into one defining moment, even if it tries to very hard during one performance in the end. Ricki doesn't necessarily have a goal in mind, and the audience doesn't exactly know what they're rooting for, they just know they are rooting for her. We are supposed to think that singing at her son's wedding wins over the respect of the family she abandoned, and this puzzled me. The whole time I was wondering what I wanted from this movie. Usually movies have a direction or a purpose, even if there are twists and turns along the way. Streep's character didn't really develop over the course of the movie, she just became less sorry for herself at the end. Ricki and the Flash lacked both purpose and spontaneity, making for an awfully drab "ride". The whole experience was just so forgettable, the plot was nonsensical and conventional and the acting was pretty spotty. Streep was solid and her actual singing voice lent a bit of authenticity to this dull movie.
The music was pretty good, the movie wasn't. Poor writing, too many weak performances, and a bland story= bad movie, it's simple math. Sorry Meryl, you might miss on the oscar nod this year.
D