I can only assume Ricki and The Flash was a vanity project for Meryl Streep. This story of an aging and unsuccessful singer in a West Coast bar band dealing with her dysfunctional family relies on a surprisingly weak script by Diablo Cody. Ricki abandons her husband (Kevin Kline) and three children to purse her “dream” of becoming a rock star. Ricki’s dream never comes true and she’s reduced to working at Total Foods (a dig at Whole Foods) as cashier during the day and playing in a bar band at night. Several times in the movie, Ricki announces, “I have no money.” Kevin Kline’s character has plenty of money and lives in a mansion in Indianapolis. He calls Ricki when their daughter, played by Streep’s real daughter Mamie Gummer, has a meltdown when her husband divorces her. Predictable family problems occur. Audra McDonald, as Kevin Kline’s new wife, is completely wasted in her role. All in all, this movie resorts to a predicable plot with no surprises. The best part of this movie is Rick Springfield as Ricki’s boyfriend and lead guitarist in The Flash. GRADE: C
SOUNDTRACK SONG LIST:
1. “American Girl” – Ricki and the Flash
2. “Keep Playing That Rock & Roll” – Ricki and the Flash
3. “Wooly Bully” – Ricki and the Flash
4. “Drift Away” – Ricki and the Flash
5. “My Love Will Not Let You Down” – Ricki and the Flash
6. “Cold One” – Ricki and the Flash
7. “Let’s Work Together” – Ricki and the Flash
8. “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” – Ricki and the Flash
9. “Bad Romance” – Ricki and the Flash
10. “Get The Party Started” – Ricki and the Flash
11. “Walk On” – Lucinda Williams
12. “Here I Am” – Emmylou Harris
13. “For The Turnstiles” – Henry Wolfe
14. “Paint It Black” – The Feelies
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Pass. The previews along turned me off.
Bob, I liked a few of the songs Ricki and The Flash sang, but overall this movie was a dud.
alone, not along.
George, I have mixed views about Meryl Streep. I like and don’t like her as an actress. At times I find her over the top. I enjoyed some of her films like “Out of Africa” and “The Hours.”
Prashant, I think sometimes Meryl Streep tries too hard in her roles. But, she is talented and will take risks in the roles she takes.
This is definitely not for me. First of all, Meryl looks far too clean and pulled together to even try to pass for a woman pursuing a rock’n’roll dream (cf. someone like Patti Smith or Joan Jett–those women have lived the rock’n’roll life…and it shows). Secondly, that soundtrack is all over the place. I know this is supposed to be cover band material, but even cover/bar bands tend to focus on one genre. So, when the best thing about a movie is the guy who sang “Jessie’s Girl” 30 years ago, I’ll pass.
Deb, Rick Springfield is far and away the best thing about RICKI AND THE FLASH. I agree the song selection is a hodge-podge of material. Some are good, some are awful.
As far as Jackie is concerned this is review-proof. She is determined to see it come what may, so I may be able to give you my own opinion soon. From what I’ve read the main problem isn’t Meryl, it’s Diablo Cody’s terrible script. Too bad, because I was a big fan of JUNO.
Jeff, the script to RICKI AND THE FLASH is a far cry from JUNO. Diablo Cody has lost her mojo.
Trailers are so consistently bad, particularly for studio films, that i’t’s hard to judge (though there are certainly enough where I’ll see the trailer, turn to Alice, and say, No (and sometimes she’ll beat me to it). The sleeper agent film, AMERICAN ULTRA, where it seems the agent didn’t even know he was one, looks consistently awful in all clips and such, which is a real pity since the cast isn’t too bad and the idea is more than sound for a terrifying black comedy. Ah, well.
That’s weird. The site moved my trailer comment up to this tier. Ah, well.
I haven’t ever been too impressed with Cody, I’m afraid, and this one didn’t look promising even with the reasonably good idea of mother/daughter casting.
George, Jackie wants to know: what was Diane’s review?
Jeff, you can tell Jackie that Diane liked RICKI AND THE FLASH more than I did (Diane was the Prime Mover in getting our movie group to see this mess). Diane would probably grade RICKI AND THE FLASH with a “B.”
I was afraid of this in the trailers. Looked bad there.
Patti, I agree. The trailer to RICKI AND THE FLASH was bad and so was the movie.
Barbara goes to the movies once or twice a month with a friend, and they had talked of seeing this. The awful reviews – the Oregonian gave it 1/2 star out of 5 – changed their minds. They saw Mr. Holmes a couple weeks ago, now they’re not sure what to see next.
Rick, the best movies out there right now are INSIDE OUT, ANT-MAN, and MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: ROGUE NATION.
Patti’s among those who seem to like the current film THE GIFT pretty well…I expect that DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL will be good, but disturbing. The kind of film Cody was supposed to be able to write.
Sorry to hear you didn’t like it.
I’m interested but it might become a “see when it comes out on DVD” selection.
Beth, RICKI AND THE FLASH had a lot of potential–good cast, an interesting situation–but the weak script sunk it for me.