Meryl Streep channels her inner Stevie Nicks in the newest big screen presentation from Academy Award winning writer, Diablo Cody. Streep stars as Ricki, a guitar heroine who gave up everything for her dream of rock and roll stardom, but is now returning home to make things right with her family. Streep stars opposite her real-life daughter Mamie Gummer, who plays her fictional daughter; Rick Springfield, who takes on the role of a Flash member in love with Ricki; and Kevin Kline, who portrays Ricki’s long-suffering ex-husband. If anything makes this film noteworthy, it comes in the eclectic taste in musical score that is sure to uplift the feet of any audience member. What is unfortunate however is that they are all sung authentically by Streep. You can call me any bad name you want, but Meryl’s true masterpiece is in her acting, and she should stay as far away from a microphone as possible. Songs like ‘Get the Party Started’ by Pink, ‘Bad Romance’ by Lady Gaga, and ‘American Girl’ by Tom Petty, are all almost unrecognizable from the goat shrieking that is Meryl’s lack of rhythmic tones. Unfortunately, this film is cloaked in musical performances. Of the 96 minute run time, no fewer than a half hour are dedicated to the small stage show. The film at times feels like it forgets that it is a movie, and the narrative plots suffer because of it. The movie feels like it has a big problem with telling two stories at once. There is certainly enough of a story to tell with Streep’s lack of relationship with her kids and the impact it has on them, the tension building on-screen meeting between Streep and step mother to her children (Played by Audra Mcdonald), as well as Ricki’s romantic interest in her lead guitarist. But instead the movie decides to take these things one at a time, and it’s a shame because Gummer’s performance in particular suffers greatly because of it. Just when we feel that the relationship between her and her Mother is going somewhere, we are yanked back into the bar scene with The Flash, and forgetful of Gummer for at least the next thirty minutes. There is no doubt that this is Streep’s movie, as evidence by the direction to follow her in every scene of the movie. I felt Kevin Kline was absolutely the best thing about this movie, and could’ve stood to see some scenes with him and his children interracting without the obvious foregone conclusion with Ricki that the movie has already painted for us. There is some solid comedy that brought real genuine laughs out of me in the first half of the movie. The problem going forward is that the comedy relies too much on awkward facial reactions with rich snobs living in Ricki’s hometown that don’t enjoy her rocker image. A couple of times is fine, but it all happens too much, and by the time that the wedding of her son takes place, you will be checking the time left on your watches. This movie also has some of the most awkward dialogue reads that i have ever heard. I don’t know if Demme just didn’t have the budget to shoot some retakes, but many scenes are in dire need of them. Overall, ‘Ricki and The Flash’ just didn’t do anything for me. Nothing is convincing with the performance of our main protagonist, and it fails to carry any kind of emotional tune with the audience screaming for something real. If you have to see it, i say wait for DVD, but this movie couldn’t be any further from some of the best hits of the Summer.

4/10