Ricki And The Flash. For those who always wanted to see Meryl Streep and Rick Springfield in a movie

I'm only judging this from the tv commercials ... this looks pathetic and painful to endure. I hate it already.

 

Rick cancelled an Australian tour to make this film.

 

But "Ricki and the Flash" is such a good name for a band.

This is the heartwarming story of a grocery worker who, late in middle age, wants to indulge her fantasy of being a rock star. She looks and dresses like a teenager, and anyone else in her life is just a minor character in her exciting drama.

I am so in for this movie. I mean, how can one resist? Rock and roll is such a brand new thing for her! She's gonna go for it! She never gave up. That could be the theme for this movie.

 

I dunno. Looks mildly entertaining to me. I'll chip in two hours of my life and watch it. Tough crowd here.

 

I got turned off because the TV ads were so lame with Meryl talking about what a fun movie it is. Felt really desperate. Let us know how the movie is after you see it.

 

I've just noticed in the trailer that Neil Young's bass player of over 30 years is in the band in this movie. Does anyone know more about this?

 

Demme does this in all his movies, which I kind of like. (For example, one of the guys in TV on the Radio was in Rachel Getting Married.) He directed Neil's Heart of Gold and I think a few others for him, so he obviously has close ties with the band.

I think it could be a mildly pleasant movie, but that's as optimistic as I'll get. (i.e. not expecting anything nearly on par with Melvin and Howard or Citizens Band)

 

I'm not trying to crap upon the thread, but am I the only one who is really bothered or irritated by the Great Meryl Streep?
I know she can do the accents and everything, but the only thing I've gotten from her performances since about the mid 80s is
her spectacular, glowing love of herself. Your mileage probably varies, but she just comes across as insufferable - not just in interviews
but, to me at least, in her performances. Her level of self-satisfaction and smugness just seems to shoot out of her eyes. UGGGHHH!

Ok. End of rant. Please continue....

PS: I saw the daughter (Mamie) in a failed TV series a couple of years ago where she played a sort of everywoman as internist/young doctor in love. I actually found her very likeable on screen, in spite of her resemblance to her mother.

 

Ahhh. Well I have only seen the trailer. I should add that it doesn't look good enough to get my butt down to a theater. I'll wait for it to stream!

 

Huh - I thought the daughter in the movie was Grace Gummer! Both are Streep's daughters and they look a lot alike.

I just assumed it was Grace because she's the only acting Streep daughter I'd heard of due to her role in "The Newsroom".

I looked over Mamie's filmography - I've seen her in a couple of flicks but obviously she didn't stand out to me...

 

I was listening to Rick talk to Larry King about this on a podcast yesterday:
http://www.podcastone.com/back-and-forth-with-shawn-larry-king?showAllEpisodes=true

Seems like a good guy. I think I'll wait for the movie to appear on cable though.

 

I saw it and liked it quite a bit. And I'm a movie and music snob!! But I see people that HAVEN'T seen it don't like it.

 

It's an unwritten rule around here that everyone must be a "psychic" movie critic with the ability to pre-judge the level of suckage for any upcoming feature prior to seeing it. It's also perfectly acceptable to write a full review for a film even though you've only watched the teaser trailer.

 

Well the movie is not doing well. The trailer turned me off. I'll probably watch it when it is on Netflix.

 

I want to see Rick Springfield. Meryl Streep can't act.

 

Meryl is a great actress but miscast in this part. I thought the movie was weak.

 

Curious if you think the movie would have been better with another actress.

 

I worked on a very strange film about 25 years ago that shares some similarities: Rock & Roll Mom, about a former 1970s rock star who quit the business to have a family (played by Dyan Cannon), then is lured back into the business almost 20 years later and records under a pseudonym so nobody will know she's 40+. The record takes off and becomes a huge hit, so mom has the chance to depart her family and live the life of a rock star... for a brief time. Not a good film, but it did have Waddy Wachtel as one of the bandmembers, Joe Pantoliano as her producer, and Fran Drescher as her manager/best friend. Let's just say that Dyan cannot sing. Nice people on the film, though.

 

It came out in early 1988, thus Cannon would have been in her early 50s. Still about 15 years younger than Streep though.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rock-n-roll-mom/

 

Is it better than 'Hard To Hold'? The jury is still out...

 

Streep does a nice job in this flick despite her limitations as a singer and a script that has a few plot holes in it, like one I won't spoil that gets the entire Flash to the films finale location. This will play better on disc and streaming I figure. The funny thing is more than a few people who've seen it have commented to me on how distracting they found her hairstyle to be. I guess the film makers figured the style would help audiences believe Meryl's character was living a harder rock lifestyle.

 

Perhaps a different actress would have helped the movie.
Meryl just could not pull this off. Not a good movie either way IMO

 

I'll wait for the Double Feature blu-ray when it is paired with Larry Crowne.