Movie: Ricki and the Flash

Ricki and the Flash:  Meryl Streep in another successful performance.  Streep is Ricki, a rock ‘n’ roll performer with The Flash.  No surprise that Streep can sing; news is she can also play the guitar.  The movie opens with Ricki and her band playing at a bar in Tarzana, California and singing a Tom Petty song.  The Flash includes Rick Springfield as the lead guitarist.  The keyboard player is Bernie Worrell from Parliament/Funkadelic.  The other two members are Joe Vitale and the recently deceased Rick Rosas.  The band performs a total of 10 songs, which is reason enough to see this film.  But there is much more.  The script is penned by Diablo Cody, who also wrote Juno, and the director is Jonathan Demme.  There is real talent connected with this film.  The storyline is that many years ago, Ricki left the Midwest and her family to pursue her musical dreams.  Left behind were Pete, the husband, played by Kevin Kline, 2 sons and a daughter, Julie, played by Mamie Grummer, who is Streep’s real life daughter.  Although Ricki has produced 1 album, she pays her bills by working as a cashier at a Whole Foods type of store.  In the meantime, Pete has done extremely well financially.  He has remarried (Audra McDonald) and the kids have grown up.  Then Julie has a marital crises and becomes suicidal.  This prompts Pete to call Ricki, who immediately departs California for Indianapolis.  In light of the long estrangement, the call for help is not realistic, however, if you accept it, the rest of the story falls into place.  The acting is uniformly first rate.  The dialogue is realistic as are the personal dynamics.  The use of music to emphasize the drama works and the song selection is superb.  Springfield is particularly good and delivers the best line in the movie as to what it means to be a parent.  A lot happens throughout the 101 minute playing time, most of which is entertaining while presenting multiple life dramas.  And did I mention that I enjoyed the music?