Ricki and the Flash review: Meryl Streep rocks, as usual, but the rest of the film is a flash in the pan

Ricki and the Flash has many reasons to arouse curiosity. It boasts of the iconic Streep acting with her real-life daughter. Aside from Meryl Streep, the other Oscar winners in the Ricki team are director Jonathon Demme (The Silence of the Lambs), writer Diablo Cody (Juno) and Kline (A Fish Called Wanda). Streep’s co star, Springfield, is a popular musician and has won a Grammy for “Jessie’s Girl”. But it’s difficult to forget Meryl Streep, the superhero of actors with record number of Oscar nominations, and just think of the actress as Ricki Randazzo, an ageing and failed rock star who persists as the front woman of a small time band called Flash. It’s equally easy to forget that her on-screen daughter, Julie, is also her off-screen daughter, Mamie Gummer. [caption id=“attachment_2412168” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Meryl Streep in Ricki and the Flash. Image from Facebook.[/caption] Is Streep too powerful a personality or has Gummer a non-existent one? Could it be that Streep doesn’t lose sight of her own larger-than-life persona while playing someone who makes four hundred something dollars a week. It could also be that Gummer doesn’t register much because she plays a nervous, washed-out wreck. And then, near the end of the movie, the most ridiculous mother-daughter moment comes up. A sad-faced Julie is all dolled up as bridesmaid for her brother’s wedding. She starts walking as the ceremony begins and then freezes. Her face crumples, tears well up and she turns to run. Mamma Mia, sitting close by, whispers, “Don’t … don’t run.” Sad-faced Julie gathers herself, juts out her chin and walks on. Mamma Mia sighs in relief. For someone who has forsaken her children for her career and is making an attempt to help them after a gap of 15 years, the rejected-turned-accepted parent has it entirely too easy in Ricki and the Flash. Ricki draws an interesting comparison between her life and that of Mick Jagger. “Between four wives, he had 7 children,” she says. But he could get away from his responsibilities and no one pointed fingers at him. If a mom missed even one school meet or occasion because she had a gig, it was not okay. It’s a good observation and a true one, but when it’s casually declared to a small audience that doesn’t care, Ricki’s valid point doesn’t make much of an impact. Scenes of remorse seem to be written as afterthoughts in an attempt to create some drama, which you’d think would be plentiful in a film about an estranged mother reuniting with her children but is in short supply in Ricki and the Flash. Ricki is not a conventional mother. She plays the guitar – that’s Streep actually playing the guitar, by the way, just as that’s her actual voice singing Ricki’s songs – and belts out Pink, Lady Gaga and Bruce Springsteen numbers for a living in California. Streep looks the part, in her leather jackets and boots, and flaunting chunky finger rings, toe rings and tons of necklaces. Her long, blonde hair is braided on one side. Thick black eye shadow remind us she’s a rocker, as does her wardrobe. Everything about her is so in-your face, it’s difficult to forget. To make ends meet, she doubles as cashier at a local supermarket. She has a nice boyfriend, Greg (Rick Springfield), whom she doesn’t totally acknowledge. Her ex-husband, Pete (Kevin Kline), lives in a mansion in Indiana, is remarried and looks after his and Ricki’s three children. One day, Pete calls Ricki to tell her their daughter Julie needs her mum because she’s in crisis. Julie’s husband of two years has left her for another woman and Julie blames Ricki, apparently. Clearly, this wasn’t a very serious fight since their hostility extends to all of one scene and then we see them sharing ice cream. Ricki’s two sons, Josh and Adam, are far less cheerful at her reappearance. Josh is engaged and doesn’t want his mom to come for his wedding. Adam, who is gay, taunts her for showing up in the first place. But we only see them for one dinner scene and then the sons vanish from the plot, only to reappear in the climax (for a Springsteen song reunion). Streep is the very picture of a rock musician, with all the costumes and flamboyance. But all her efforts are limited by a superficial script. As for Gummer, comparisons with Streep just wouldn’t be fair. The actress simply needs a better role to prove herself. If the same story was told with lesser known stars and had a better script, it might make for a decent watch on television. Unfortunately, as a film, Ricki and the Flash is barely a flash in the pan. There’s a lot of music in this film, but too little harmony and the only song that stays with you is Streep singing “Cold One”. “Get so wound up I can’t sleep But there’s no one I’d rather be So have a cold one on me.” We can drink to that.