Quartile rating: 6/10 · 1 rating
Meryl Streep stars as Ricki Rendazzo, a guitar heroine who made a world of mistakes as she followed her dreams of rock-and-roll stardom. Returning home, Ricki gets a shot at redemption and a chance to make things right as she faces the music with her family.
Ricki and the Flash is largely carried by Meryl Streep's committed, genuinely impressive rock performance — she learned guitar and sings live, bringing real credibility to a role that lesser actors would have made feel hollow. The plot, however, is formulaic and predictable, hitting every expected beat of the estranged-parent redemption arc without much surprise. Diablo Cody's screenplay has flashes of her signature wit but feels constrained compared to her sharper work. Cinematography is workmanlike, with the concert sequences being the visual highlight but nothing distinctive. The ending resolves things somewhat conveniently, though it avoids being saccharine. The film's novelty is limited — it's a well-worn genre exercise elevated almost entirely by its star.