Familiar notes feel so good in ‘Ricki and the Flash’

  • By Brian Miller Seattle Weekly
  • Wednesday, August 5, 2015 3:42pm
  • LifeGo-See-Do

Her brand is excellence, as they say, and Meryl Streep doesn’t make many mediocre movies. For that reason, because it’s August — too hot to be critical! — and because she and director Jonathan Demme carry so much career goodwill, “Ricki and the Flash” is the kind of mediocre movie I can enjoy.

It’s written by Diablo Cody, and the script is nowhere near so sharp as her Oscar-winning “Juno.” In fact, it feels like a sloppy comic paraphrase of Demme’s “Rachel Getting Married.”

The family conflicts here are rote: irresponsible L.A. musician mother Ricki (Streep); her abandoned and remarried husband Pete (Kevin Kline) back in Indianapolis; two grown sons and daughter Julie (Mamie Gummer, Streep’s daughter), who’s in a near-psychotic meltdown after being dumped by her husband.

Since one of Ricki’s sons is engaged to be wed, and since she leads a grizzled bar band in the San Fernando Valley, you can write the final scenes as well as Cody — and quite possibly better. Reconciliation is inevitable, hugs and forgiveness are inescapable; and the only question is how many encores Ricki and the Flash will play.

Streep, channeling both Stevie Nicks and Bonnie Raitt, does all her singing, so respect. And about her band: Demme cast rock veterans on bass, drums, keys (the latter Bernie Worrell, from his Talking Heads concert doc “Stop Making Sense”), and — get ready for it; drumroll, please — on lead guitar and vocals, Mr. Rick Springfield!

The casting is too perfect: Ricki seems stuck in the ’80s, right down to her braids, 10 pounds of mismatched jewelry, and patriotic tramp stamp, and the ’80s are when Springfield hit peak Springfield with “Jessie’s Girl” and “General Hospital.” Today he’s having a small-screen revival on “Californication” and “True Detective.” And, entirely aware of his stereotypical casting, he’s an age-appropriate, effective love interest for Streep.

When was the last time Streep played a woman this dumb? By night she cranks out Tom Petty, U2, and Springsteen covers; by day she’s a supermarket clerk. There’s a bit of class resentment, none too subtly rendered, as she visits Pete’s gated mansionette — where the latter’s trophy wife (Audra McDonald) basically raised Ricki’s three kids.

Yet all these tensions, we know, will predictably resolve in a warm major key. Cody and Demme aren’t reaching for art, just trying to craft something as comfortable as an old car-radio song. The only reason it’s hummable is because Streep is doing the singing.

“Ricki and The Flash” (3 stars)

It’s summer and it’s Streep (as in Meryl), so we’ll cut Diablo Cody’s lackluster script some slack: “Ricki and The Flash” hits some sweet notes. Streep is strong (as always) as a washed-up ’80s rocker now playing in a bar band (fronted by “Jessie’s Girl” Rick Springfield). The ending is predictable and the family conflicts familiar, but the chord progressions to get there are guilty fun.

Rating: PG-13, thematic material, brief drug content, sexuality and language

Showing: Alderwood, Cinnebarre, Edmonds, Everett Stadium, Galaxy Monroe, Marysville, Oak Tree, Pacific Place, Woodinville, Cascade Mall

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Brandon Hailey of Cytrus, center, plays the saxophone during a headlining show at Madam Lou’s on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lynnwood-based funk octet Cytrus has the juice

Resilience and brotherhood take center stage with ‘friends-first’ band.

FILE - In this April 11, 2014 file photo, Neko Case performs at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Fire investigators are looking for the cause of a fire on Monday, Sept. 18, 2017, that heavily damaged Case’s 225-year-old Vermont home. There were no injuries, though a barn was destroyed. It took firefighters two hours to extinguish the blaze. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Singer-songwriter Neko Case, an indie music icon from Tacoma, performs Sunday in Edmonds.

Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli
Tangier’s market boasts piles of fruits, veggies, and olives, countless varieties of bread, and nonperishables, like clothing and electronics.
Rick Steves on the cultural kaleidoscope of Tangier in Morocco

Walking through the city, I think to myself, “How could anyone be in southern Spain — so close — and not hop over to experience this wonderland?”

chris elliott.
Vrbo promised to cover her rental bill in Hawaii, so why won’t it?

When Cheryl Mander’s Vrbo rental in Hawaii is uninhabitable, the rental platform agrees to cover her new accommodations. But then it backs out. What happened?

The Moonlight Swing Orchestra will play classic sounds of the Big Band Era on April 21 in Everett. (submitted photo)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Relive the Big Band Era at the Port Gardner Music Society’s final concert of the season in Everett.

2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD (Honda)
2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD

Honda cedes big boy pickup trucks to the likes of Ford, Dodge… Continue reading

Would you want to give something as elaborate as this a name as mundane as “bread box”? A French Provincial piece practically demands the French name panetiere.
A panetiere isn’t your modern bread box. It’s a treasure of French culture

This elaborately carved French antique may be old, but it’s still capable of keeping its leavened contents perfectly fresh.

(Judy Newton / Great Plant Picks)
Great Plant Pick: Mouse plant

What: Arisarum proboscideum, also known as mouse plant, is an herbaceous woodland… Continue reading

Bright green Japanese maple leaves are illuminated by spring sunlight. (Getty Images)
Confessions of a ‘plantophile’: I’m a bit of a junky for Japanese maples

In fact, my addiction to these glorious, all-season specimens seems to be contagious. Fortunately, there’s no known cure.

2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited (Hyundai)
2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited

The 2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited is a sporty, all-electric, all-wheel drive sedan that will quickly win your heart.

The 2024 Dodge Hornet R/T hybrid’s face has the twin red lines signifying the brand’s focus on performance. (Dodge)
2024 Hornet R/T is first electrified performance vehicle from Dodge

The all-new compact SUV travels 32 miles on pure electric power, and up to 360 miles in hybrid mode.

Don’t blow a bundle on glass supposedly made by the Henry William Stiegel

Why? Faked signatures, reused molds and imitated styles can make it unclear who actually made any given piece of glass.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.