Ricki and the Flash (2015)

Revering the director and cast, as well as admiring the screenwriter of "Juno," I was shocked and pained by "Ricki and the Flash." A few gems have successfully combining music and drama without being a musical, especially "Once." Not this one.

"Ricki" should be showcased in a film school course called "Movies Gone Wrong." (If you are interested in this phenomenon, read the classic article by Pauline Kael about her witnessing the process of the making of "The Group.")

The dissection of this disappointing work starts with the script. The director should have either sent it back for rewrites or demanded a script doctor. Someone needed to rescue its relentlessly shapeless scenes, meandering plot lines, unnecessary throw-in details, half-conceived characters and contrived conflicts. This combination inevitably leads to a conclusion full of cheap sentimentality.

In more detail, one must next focus on the characters and their arcs. We'll stick with the center of the movie, Ricki, an aging rocker who plays with passion in a bar band. She had long ago abandoned her role as a mother and wife to pursue her singular musical goals. The movie and actress depicts her as a self-centered, thin-skinned, unapologetic, non-introspective mess. Who cares about someone who fails to demonstrates any kind of consistent attachment with her children? The filmmakers' choice is a dead end leading to a no-coming-back dramatic cliff.

They could have turned the character into a pioneer, one whose singular artistic drive might be off-putting, but whose uncompromising spirit inspires her children. In her arc, she re-balances her life, finds some humility, accepts responsibility for her neglect through action, but refuses to give up on her passion. She becomes a good enough mother, which is good enough for children. Her sons and daughter might settle for a parent who is flawed, but lovable and forgivable.

Instead, the script makes aging rocker Ricki insinuate herself into her ex's life and their shared children, a family that has been basically good enough with the usual dramas. Even if you introduce a severely depressed daughter, played by Mamie Gummer, there's no parallel between the mother's self-centered abandonment and her daughter's recoiling from a short-lived, failed marriage. Then (SPOILER ALERT, but one that's not that big0, it makes the recently bankrupt Ricki talk this depressed daughter into skipping her therapy session and getting indulged at a spa. It becomes a plot turning point, but it's based on a phony conflict. Why not see the therapist together, let the sparks fly, then heal their wounds with a spa treatment. Instead the next scene shows the mother and step-mother arguing over spa treatment versus therapy and uses it as a pretense to create a war between two strong-willed women. It results in drama reduced to a lifeless spat.

In the end, I found myself squirming over this self-indulgent movie, where the cast seems to be having much more fun than the audience, a cast hamstrung into depicting honest feeling in a phony, sentimentally contrived drama. We're left at the end watching essentially music videos by talented musicians that have no emotional resonance. It can make you turn your head away, embarrassed for this extremely talented A-list cast and crew.

Fmovies: 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.

"Ricki and the Flash" (2015 release; 101 min.) brings the story of Ricki (played by Meryl Streep), an aging cover band singer-guitarist. As the movie opens, we find ourselves in the Tarzana (LA) neighborhood bar The Salt Well, where Ricki and her mates are bringing us Tom Petty's "American Girl". The next day we see her at work as a cashier in a local grocery store. Ricki gets a call from her ex (played by Kevin Kline) in Indianapolis, who informs her that their daughter Julie (played by Mamie Gummer) is depressed as a result of her failing marriage. Ricki immediately flies out to Indy to comfort her daughter. At this point we're not even 15 minutes into the movie, but to tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: the movie is directed by noted rock documentarian Jonathan Demme (Stop Making Sense; several Neil Young docs). Here he finds himself in familiar territory. The script is courtesy of Diabolo Cody (Juno, Young Adult). I have to tell you that I was surprised how utterly predictable the entire story line is in "Ricki and the Flash", I mean, not a single surprise or other deviation from a straight-forward path. I had expected more from Cody. Demme tries the best with the rather weak material. What should've been real tension between Streep's character and her kids, comes off pretty weak. The best line comes deep in the movie when her ex comments: "It's not the kids' job to love you, it's your job to love them!" So true. The one and only reason to watch this film is of course the timeless Meryl Streep, who easily looks about 15-20 years younger than her actual age (66, if you can believe it). Gummer (in the role of Julie) is Streep's real life daughter but you could easily mistake them for sisters. The movie's shooting was delayed so as to give Streep enough time to learn the guitar (Streep wouldn't have it any other way!). There are some nice side performances as well, none more so than Rick Springfield as her band made and romantic interest Greg. Kevin Kline as the ex is quite good too. The music plays a big role in the movie obviously, and in the end credits it is noted that the live music is performed by Rick and the Flash. Along the way, we get covers of Lady Gaga's Bad Romance, U2's I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, and many others. Bottom line: "Ricki and the Flash" is an okay but ultimately uneven and forgettable movie that stars one of the best actresses this country has ever seen. There is a reason why this movie only has a 59 on Rotten Tomatoes...

The movie opened nationwide this weekend. Despite my misgivings for this film, I ended going to see this right away. The matinée screening where I saw this at here in Cincinnati was very nicely attended actually. If you like movies with a heavy emphasis on bar music, or are simply a fan of Meryl Streep, I encourage you to check out "Ricki and the Flash", be it in the theater, on VOD or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray.

Ricki and the Flash fmovies. After reading mixed reviews for this movie and I make up my own mind - this is a delight, a relatively quiet film with some really good music. A story of a mother who went her own way and how she works to right a few things and make amends with her three children. Meryl Streep working with her own daughter was good to watch. Easy to see the genes working well together. Some of my favorite actors are in this movie - Kevin Kline is another actor that I would not miss a film of his, of course Meryl Streep - I love the variety of films she does and excels at. Audra McDonald - so good as the step-mother. This is a story of a mother who wants to be there for her daughter who is experiencing a heartbreak of her own., You get the impression that Rikki almost misses what she left. But she has a strong man by her side and has trouble letting herself acknowledging it. This is a good movie, a quiet family drama movie and as I said a movie with some great music. The last scenes make you want to get up an dance.

As hard as I've tried, I just can't get on the Diablo Cody bandwagon. Yes, I saw Juno and Young Adult, both movies that I thought had great concepts and stories hindered by clunky screenplays. Cody's writing hints at much of what people complain about millennials: narcissistic, overly snarky, and the thought that being a special snowflake makes up for being a miserable, unlikable human being. Ricki and the Flash follows this formula once again.

Sorry, but if you're a mother and you just ditch your family to selfishly "follow your dream", the family shouldn't just accept you back like it's no big deal. I just couldn't get past that. The story felt more like a Disney Channel Movie than anything else.

I like Meryl Streep and it was kind of funny seeing her as a rockstar, but that was about the only good thing going for it. Her performance alone made up for an otherwise weak screenplay and generic story.

Hollywood badly needs more female writers and directors, but Cody's flaws as a writer keep showing up movie after movie. She needs a co- writer or script doctor to help polish up the unrealistic dialogue, characters that appear more like cartoon characters than human beings, and humor that is more eye rolling than gut busting.

I think I'll skip her next film, like I should have skipped this one.

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 ****