Ricki and the Flash (Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Rick Springfield, Mamie Gummer, Audra McDonald) – While I am tempted to write a novella about this wonderful film, first I will just say “go see it … now!” Those familiar with my reviews know that I revere Meryl Streep as an actress. She does not disappoint in Ricki and the Flash. Her meticulous preparation for a role is legendary, and her immersion into rock music for Ricki is evident here.
This is no Mamma Mia! In that bomb of a film, Streep proved she could sing but was hampered by the score from hell and a male cast with tone deafness. On the other hand, Ricki and the Flash features, well, The Flash, a supporting band that includes ‘80s heartthrob rocker Rick Springfield; Rick Rosas, one of Hollywood’s leading session bass guitarists (he died late in 2014 after principal shooting of the film); drummer Joe Vitale, who played drums for Joe Walsh, Ted Nugent, CSN, and even the Eagles (in support of Don Henley); and keyboardist Bernie Worrell of R&R Hall of Fame group Parliament-Funkadelic as well as Talking Heads. Streep’s voice is surprisingly emotional. She plays guitar (or so it seemed), and she has more moves that we typically ascribe to 66-year-old starlets. Together, they played a ton of music for this film, and Queen Meryl showed her chops.
That she is paired again with Kevin Kline is a cinematic treat. It has been 33 years since the release of Sophie’s Choice for which Streep won an Oscar and Kline, in his first film role, burst into Hollywood’s elite. Seeing them together here, in their mid-60s, was a treat.
Streep plays Ricki, a free-spirited, aging rocker who left her husband and kids to seek her stardom in the ‘80s. Now, she is the singer in the house band at a bar in Tarzana, singing covers of rock tunes by night and working in a grocery store by day. She is poor and tired but she comes to life on stage. Singing creates her only stable world, and she seems happy, alive, and energetic when she is on stage. Off stage, she is a mess. She is romantically and musically involved with Greg (Springfield), her lead guitarist but she is unwilling to commit, mostly because she doesn’t think she deserves to be personally fulfilled. She has virtually no contact with her three kids and Pete (Kline), her ex-husband.
Then, one day, Pete calls and tells her that the new husband of her daughter, Julie (real-life daughter Mamie Gummer), has run off with another woman. Julie isn’t doing well and just might need her otherwise absent mother. Ricki scrapes together the money and flies back to Indianapolis. Pete is rich, remarried (to Maureen played by Broadway and Private Practice star Audra McDonald), a bit uptight, and befuddled with what to do with his volatile, depressed and suicidal daughter.
Ricki, whose real name is Linda, struggles to re-engage with the family she abandoned. The kids, Julie and her two brothers, are an eclectic assortment. One is about to get married while the other is our obligatory gay character. All three are either hostile or ambivalent about mom. They all see her as an irresponsible, judgmental, ticking time bomb. Julie, drugged up to keep her from attempting suicide, is slovenly, mad at the world, and says everything on her mind. Meanwhile, Pete is just a nice guy who is trying to keep the family members from killing themselves. He is so bottled up right up until the moment that Ricki/Linda finds his stash of marijuana that he keeps for his migraine headaches. Ricki’s presence seems to awaken his youth and maybe even rekindle some of that old magic. But that is not the way the plot goes, convenient as it would be.
At its heart, this film is a family drama. But the star of the movie is Streep and the music. The sentimental wedding scene is a little too neat and Oscar-winning director Jonathan Demme (Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia, Rachel Got Married) is a little heavy-handed, but the film never devolves into schmaltz. Demme is no stranger to rock music video, having directed documentaries Neil Young: Heart of Gold. Neil Young Journeys, Kenny Chesney: Unchained, and Bruce Springsteen: The Complete Video Anthology 1978-2000. To him, this appears a labor of love featuring the greatest actress of our generation, a great lead actor, and a score that is worth buying.
Rush out and see Ricki … in a FLASH.