"Ricki (Meryl Streep) was a wife and mother when she said goodbye to all that and pursued a career as a rock star. She imagined herself as the kind of performer who’d grace the cover of Rolling Stone.
"Now, many years later, she’s lead singer for a cover band called the Flash playing dingy local bars. No one has to tell Ricki that things haven’t turned out as she planned. But she seems happy enough — until her ex-husband Pete (Kevin Kline), who still has a copy of her one and only record album, gets in touch with troubling news. Their daughter Julie (Mamie Gummer) is in a deep depression and might appreciate a visit from her estranged mom.
"Reluctantly, Ricki agrees to spend time with the family she left behind. But that also means dealing with Pete’s wife Maureen (Audra McDonald), who’s not shy about reminding her of her motherly failings.
“Ricki and the Flash is the latest film from director Jonathan Demme ('Philadelphia, Silence of the Lambs, Stop Making Sense.) Working from a screenplay by Diablo Cody (Juno), Demme keeps the laughs coming without undercutting the anger and bitterness in Ricki’s family dynamic.
"As the remorseful yet resourceful central character, Streep delivers one of her most appealing performances. Kline, who co-starred with Streep in Sophie’s Choice back in the 1980s, is engagingly unflappable. Streep’s real-life daughter Gummer is delightfully droll. And rocker Rick Springfield, of 'Jessie’s Girl' fame, acquits himself well as Ricki’s bandmate and boyfriend.
"Quite a few filmgoers lament the shortage of movies for adults. Ricki and the Flash goes against that trend with rock ’n’ roll attitude." - St. Louis Post
Printer-friendly version
