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 by Sandra Olmsted

While director Jonathan Demme’s new film, Ricki and the Flash, has some chuckles, for the most part it is an uplifting, family-affirming dramedy, with some great musical performances by Meryl Streep, the star of the film, and her band. Screenwriter Diablo Cody, who won an Academy Award for Juno, never reaches that perfect blend of pathos and wry wit in Ricki and the Flash.

Streep stars as Ricki a.k.a. Linda, who left a midwestern life and her husband and three children to follow her dream of being a rock star. Past middle age, her claim to fame is being a member of the house band at a Tarzana, California bar “since 2008.” At her day job working for Total Foods, she checks out people whose grocery bill is larger than her weekly income.

Then Ricki’s ex-husband Pete (Kevin Kline) calls because their daughter Julie (Mamie Gummer, who is Streep’s real-life daughter) needs her, or rather he can’t handle Julie’s attempted suicide alone, which is one of the unconvincing plot points.

Julie’s marriage recently fell apart, apparently soon after the wedding. because the husband fell in love with someone else. Julie, who is severely depressed, has moved home after her suicide attempt. Unfortunately, Pete’s second wife and great mom to Ricki’s children, Maureen (Audra McDonald), is away because her father is ill. Maureen’s absence is too contrived.

Given the few interactions between Ricki and Maureen, Maureen’s presence would have made the film stronger, not just because McDonald’s performance infuses the perfect step-mom with real flesh and personality, but because Maureen and Ricki are the heart of the conflict. Their interactions drive the plot, and Maureen welcoming Ricki into the house rather than Pete reaching out to her during his wife’s absence would have been more interesting, especially since Pete and Ricki’s true feelings are never completely explored.

Eventually, Ricki is asked to leave, and she is back in Tarzana, rocking with her band and avoiding the budding romance with her lead guitarist, Greg (Rick

Springfield). Despite her commitment phobia, Ricki and Greg have a heart-to-heart about the consequences of choices they have both made, which is moving but a little too on-the-nose. Otherwise, much of their relationship plays out as banter during their musical performances.

The musical performances, during which Streep sings and plays the guitar like a real rock star, make the film worth seeing. Besides Springfield, the Flash is composed of veteran backup musicians Bernie Worrell, Joe Vitale, and bassist Rick Rosas, who often collaborated with Neil Young. Rosas died shortly after the film finished shooting, and the film is dedicated to him.

Between the music and the exceptional acting performances, Ricki and the Flash, could get a few awards for the actors and actresses, but the story is weak and humorous moments are few and far between. Ricki and the Flash, a Sony Pictures and TriStar Picture release, is in theaters now. Rated PG-13 for thematic material, brief drug content, sexuality, and language, Ricki and the Flash runs a fast paced 101 minutes

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