Ricki and the Flash

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Susan S @Stellacat May 9, 2026 Ah, lovely Meryl, this role doesn't suit you. I couldn't help feeling embarrassed for her: tho a fantastic singer, she aged out of this role 10 years before the movie was made. The long hair with the silly braids, the tight pants and heavy blue eyeshadow do no justice for Meryl. In fact, its cringe-worthy, not intentionally. Ricki evokes no sympathy; having abandoned her children years ago, she is broke, rough, and seems bereft of the 'heart of gold' typical for movie heroines of this type. However, she is living her dream of fronting a rock band, the Flash, (all good real-life musicians, btw) where her lead guitarist, the hunky Rick Springfield, is inexplicably in love with her. When she is summoned to her former hometown to assist with a daughter who is in emotional crisis, Ricki experiences the wrath of her family, not undeserved. The plot meanders. Her rich, successful ex-husband seems to have feelings for her, weirdly. Will this end badly, or will the Flash save the day? See more Melissa M @Lisey Mar 5, 2025 Meryl Streep is one of the best actresses of all time. She can do comedy, action, etc. she also apparently is a very good singer. She is also a awesome guitar player. Meryl Streep did all her own singing in this film. And she learned to play electric guitar for the film. Every character she plays she does it 110%. In the movie she plays a rockstar with a very Rocky past. But she's got a heart of gold. Her family is far from perfect. I think this movie is extremely underrated. This movie proves that Rick Springfield is not only amazing singer. He is also a talented actor. There's never a dull moment in this movie. This movie rocks. See more Blu B @RT43513976 Jan 27, 2025 The music is good and the one saving grace for this. Streep can sing pretty well as a rocker and Rick Springfield is good too. The second half is loaded with musical numbers and it helps turn things around from a very clunky and not good first half. Even though the pacing is alright because of the second half musical numbers the editing overall isn't good and one of the biggest problems. Structurally it's weird in the first half it feels like what takes most film to get out of the way and set up this film drags out way longer. The point where Ricki and the other Mom have their fight, this should've been done in the first 20 minutes or so. It just feels so dragged out and once she gets to her ex husbands house stuff just happens. It really runs out of momentum after a solid opening number. It all just doesn't feel that well connected. It still has that problem in the second half with the musical numbers but at least there cool to listen too and more visually appealing. The acting and cinematography is just alright too. Another weird problem is how basic and uninspired the direction feels. I can't believe this is Demme late in his career. It feels like there is no style or distinction at all from him with this and not in a way where they don't let the direction get int the way of good storytelling. It NEEDS better direction. I don't know if that's because he didn't know how to do musical numbers but the nonmusic scenes feel so lifeless even though they are well lit and framed alright. It's weird to explain honestly. It needed better direction overall. And no one really has that much chemistry honestly save for Streep and Springfield who aren''t bad. But their romance subplot feels like it goes nowhere by the end. Hoenstly skip this I'd say. Everyone involved has done better work including Streep with better musicals. See more Kyle M @RT77296778 Aug 11, 2024 Perfectly paired written direction between Jonathan Demme’s humane dysfunction and Diablo Cody’s psychoanalysis of one’s prioritized growth in need of wholesome heal, albeit restrained from pushing the confrontational envelope under repetitive risk with defensive character study. Meryl Streep, whose character stands out problematically, takes it all in with her caliber ever graceful uniquely spun and averagely downplayed, whilst a demonstrative key to dysfunctional heal by sensitively potential relatability. (B) See more Simon T @MovieTart May 12, 2024 It's well acted but only the early awkward scenes with the estranged family failing to connect have enough comic mileage. Kevin Kline is wasted as Meryl Streep's ex-husband, and Jonathan Demme fails to pull it all together. He loses sight of the core plot, sacrificing way too much screen time to Streep's endless wannabe rock chick doodlings. What starts astringent ends as mush. See more Alec B @Alec97 Dec 14, 2023 This is the type of role I'd like to see Streep do more (weird, unglamorous, and funny), I just wish the performance was in a better movie. See more Read all reviews

Ricki and the Flash

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