Do you have an overwhelming desire to see Meryl Streep pretend to be a rock star? If so, then this is the film for you. As Ricki Randazzo (yes, really) she hits all the right notes, sporting a husky voice and a rebellious hairdo, and she brings a tremendous amount of energy to the role - she throws her guitar about, she jumps about on stage, there's even a bit of gyrating. However, those looking for something more substantial should probably steer clear, because there's nothing really new here. After performing at a bar, Ricki receives word from her ex-husband Pete (Kevin Kline) that her daughter Julie (Mamie Gummer, Streep's own daughter) has tried to kill herself in the wake of a collapsed marriage. Ricki returns home to her estranged family to find that everyone resents her a bit for buggering off to become a rock star and never bothering to write an email. But that won't stop Ricki from trying to put old ghosts to rest and convince her family to finally accept her for "who she is".
The problem is that there's no real drama. The stakes are too low: you initially think Julie's depression will be the centre point of it all, but that goes away once Ricki takes her to get a makeover (while avoiding her professional therapist, no less). There's some stuff about a love triangle between Ricki, Pete and his new partner Maureen (Audra McDonald), but that dissipates as quickly as it arrives. When we reach a natural lull in the plot towards the middle, it's filled by Streep and her boyfriend Greg (Rick Springfield, who has really weird eyes) performing not one but two full-length songs. It might be enjoyable in a stick-on-some-music-on-a-Sunday-afternoon kind of way, but in the middle of a feature film it feels as lazy as slotting in some Bangles concert footage and calling it a day.
And considering the talent attached, I really expected better. Diablo Cody has proved to be one of the most acidic and witty screenwriters in Hollywood, particularly with the terrific Young Adult, but this just seems borrowed from what she learned in Scriptwriting 101. And Jonathan Demme is in familiar territory here - his Altman-esque Rachel Getting Married covered almost identical material - but here he's just showing up to collect a paycheck. He doesn't try hard enough. None of them, bar Streep - who could make eating a bowl of peas entertaining - try hard enough.
★★
