Review // Ricki and the Flash

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Despite the title, Ricki and the Flash, isn’t another superhero blockbuster, it’s a refreshingly heartfelt female driven comedy. Written by Diablo Cody (Juno, Young Adult) and directed by Johnathan Demme (Philadelphia, Silence of the Lambs) the film stars Meryl Streep as the title character Ricki, a wannabe rock musician still chasing the dream well into her sixties.

This is not a sad film about Ricki still hustling around LA trying to be a rock star and getting the door slammed in her face. In fact, she seems pretty thrilled playing at a local bar in the Valley with her band The Flash even if that means being perpetually broke and working as a grocery store cashier during the day. She’s content with her “more than friends but not officially dating” relationship with The Flash’s guitarist Greg (Rick Springfield), but she does have a lot of guilt and anxiety about her past. The film is a character study of Ricki and how she has to come to terms with the fact that in order to achieve her far from fabulous (yet ideal) life as a bar singer, she abandoned her three children, who have all grown up to resent her.

Ricki is coaxed back to Indianapolis from California when her ex-husband Pete (Kevin Kline) calls to let her know that their daughter, Julie (Mamie Gummer) is in rough shape because her husband left her for another woman. It takes a bit of cajoling from Pete to get Ricki to come and she isn’t exactly greeted with open arms: Julie runs down the stairs in complete disarray to make it clear to Ricki that she is the last person she wants to see right now. The initial outburst is swept under the rug the next morning when Julie explains she’s heavily medicated, although she’s still not thrilled to see her mom. Julie is in a permanent state of dishevelled hair, pjs and a long brown coat, going so far as to wear them to an awkward family dinner where we meet Ricki and Pete’s other children. Her oldest Adam (Nick Westrate) is the most resentful of Ricki, on top of abandonment he also faces discrimination from his surprisingly right-wing mother for being gay. The youngest, Josh (Sebastian Stan), is more willing to spend time with his mother as long as it’s superficial. He attempts to hide his upcoming nuptials from Ricki mostly because he doesn’t want to invite her. In his defense she probably wouldn’t show up (Ricki skipped Julie’s wedding after all). We also learn more about Marueen (Audra McDonald), Pete’s wife and the children’s stepmother, who has clearly played the more traditional mother role in the family. Despite the disastrous dinner Ricki sticks around Indianapolis and actually makes headway with Julie, however when Maureen returns  to town from visiting her sick father it is clear that Ricki is the outsider in the family. After a blow-up with Maureen about what a mother is, Ricki returns to her life in California, which now seems less than ideal.

Ricki and the Flash has a distinctly Diablo Cody ending, one that’s probably more relatable than most movie endings. The character doesn’t go through a complete transformation to become the ideal woman. Ricki’s epiphany is thrust upon her by Greg, it isn’t something she learns. But she does understand that while she can’t make up for the past or change who she is, she can still build a stronger relationships with her kids. She isn’t suddenly the perfect mother by the end of the film or even a bona fide rock star (although Streep has the pipes for it) in the end she’s still poor, a bit self centred (which is very much evident in her wedding present to Josh) and brash; but she’s trying. Cody’s script offers a lot, especially in developing Ricki and Julie and their dynamic, a dynamic that is intensified with the casting of Streep’s real life daughter Gummer. Not only do they look the part, the pair have great chemistry on camera and the casting adds a meta quality to the film about an artist mother pursuing her career. Ricki and the Flash is a good watch with great music and more than a few laughs, it also boasts one of the best dance scenes of the year (although the one in Ex Machina is still my favourite). Superheroes are set to dominate the box office this weekend but Ricki and the Flash has the heart (and spandex) to give them a run for their money.

Reviewed by Vithiya Murugadas.