Ricki And The Flash

This review may contain spoilers!

Meryl Streep's choice in films has certainly taken a turn for the worst. I would give Ricki And The Flash a 3.5/10.

The music within this film is exceptionally well done; in some ways the technique of music is at the heart of the film and is one of the few things that propels the film forward.

Meryl Streep, who played Ricki brought a lot out of a really dislikeable character; her singing is exceptional and she has some nice chemistry with Gummer. Ben Platt, who played Daniel, was a really fun small role; I liked his groupie vibe and the enthusiasm he brought to the film. Kevin Kline, who played Pete, was terribly awkward and that really made him quite entertaining as a character; Kline presented a character who struggled to relate to others and who bumbled over interactions which was really something I liked about his performance. Audra McDonald, who played Maureen, crushed it in this film; honestly her brutally honest character who was so cool and collected really stood out in terms of performance.

However the best performance came from Rick Springfield, who played Greg. Springfield starts this film with blowing us away with his singing ability as well as his stand out guitar playing. But he's more than his musical role; he shows this when he develops the awkward relationship between himself and Streep to one that is exceptionally intimate and sweet. Springfield is portraying a very grounded role who makes a lot of personal sacrifices that you empathise with.

This film could have been better if the plot had been similar but with some characters who were written nicely; as it stood most good characters were only that way out of good performances not good writing. The pacing for this film was really slow, and I question the need for full musical numbers being shown. One or two full musical numbers would have been fine but more resulted in a film that felt crammed up with clutter. The cinematography was dull, we barely see anything exciting throughout the film. The editing certainly didn't help, cuts were few and far between and only served to make the film drag longer.

Mamie Gummer, who played Julie, was just plain emotionless; she yelled a lot but I don't think her performance was really all that convincing. Sebastian Stan, who played Josh, is a boring role; he has a few lines but has no screen presence and is happy to sit in the background. Nick Westrate, who played Adam, could have been interesting if he had been used; as it was he started a commentary on the perception of homosexual people in the States but that ultimately went nowhere. Hailey Gates, who played Emily, was a character that you just plain hated despite her awful screen presence; she was never much in it but when she was she was thoroughly dislikeable right up until a miraculous character change that happened over the course of seconds and made little sense.