 |
| Meryl Streep |
Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep is no one-hit wonder and we know by now she can carry a tune (heck her last Oscar nomination was for a musical) and she does so again as a rock singer in the energetically predictable dramedy "Ricki and the Flash." Considering the talent involved, it's a disappointment, yet Streep's fabulously blowsy performance rises above the flat storytelling that rings with contrivances. Ricki (Streep) chased her dreams of becoming a famous rock star by abandoning her family. She gets a last chance to put things right when her ex-husband Pete (Oscar-winner and Streep's "Sophie's Choice" co-star Kevin Kline) asks her to visit Indianapolis and help their estranged daughter Julie (Streep's real daughter Mamie Gummer) through a difficult time. Directed by Oscar-winning director Jonathan Demme ("Silence of the Lambs"), written by Oscar-winner Diablo Cody ("Juno"), "Ricki and the Flash" is certainly buoyed by the ever-game, ever-watchable Streep, the most memorable thing here (except for the annoying heavy, dark eye shadow that only a true rock queen like Pat Benatar can rock), and aside from the fun musical numbers, Demme's direction and Cody's script ring some false notes and only scratches the surface of some serious family dysfunction. It runs a similar parallel to the much more memorable, affecting Streep movie 1990's "Postcards from the Edge" about a troubled artist with family issues that had Shirley MacLaine as her mother, except this time Streep takes on the distant mother role, though the problematic story never fully connects the dots: Mom runs out on family and is absent, what else has happened, and why does she run back so quick? The story never fully brings it out, though there are some nice moments, especially in seeing Streep and her real daughter Gummer fuss a little, some quaint Streep-Kline moments and of course the romance with '80s heartthrob Rick Springfield, looking every bit his age and then some. The best part of "Ricki" comes as no surprise: the music and having Streep strum her guitar, belting out some nifty classic tunes from Springsteen, U2 and even Lady Gaga that makes you want to shout "go Ricki, go Ricki!" As enjoyable as all this is, "Ricki's" story and characters aren't fleshed out, with a climax so pat and predictable that resolves absolutely nothing of the family drama and really only an excuse for Streep to hop back onstage one last time. "Ricki and the Flash" is a likable one-note ditty and Streep's always a treat, but most everything else around her is far from wondrous.
No comments:
Post a Comment