Ricki and the Flash is an excellent film that talks about the high’s and lows of being a mother, a rock star and dealing with the trials and tribulations of broken marriages.
Streep plays Ricki Randazzo, the lead singer of Ricki and the Flash which is a pub cover band that belts out Tom Betty and Bruce Springsteen songs to joyous, energetic crowds in a pub. Streep’s guitarist(Rick Springfield) adores her but she appears to keep his affections at bay.
Flash back many years to a time when Ricki Randazzo was Linda Brummel – the wife and mother of Pete ( Kevin Kline) and mother to Julie ( played by real life daughter Maria Gummer). She was obviously surrounded by money and all that it can buy. However somewhere along the line Ricki realizes that sh wants to be a rock star and all the money in the world cannot compensate for the emptiness she feels within. She therefore decides to leave Pete and search for her true inner self. This causes a lot od problems for her kids ( specially daughter Julie who appears to be most affected by the breakup. of her parent’s marriage). When Julie’s own marriage collapses, she visits the unpleasantness of her parent’s breakup. Pete calls Ricki back to help him deal with the flare up as his new wife is away looking after her ailing father.
Pete’s new wife is far from a conniving, vicious step mother. In fact she is loving and kind and she has tried to provide emotionally for all of Pete’s 3 children.
Eventually however like all good stories Ricki reconciles with her kids at her son’s wedding and hopefully all live happily ever after.
This is a film that has lots of ups and downs. It is brilliantly cast and the sad moments in the film are broken by moments of laughter. The music provides a wonderful backdrop to the entire scenario. I would suggest not missing out on seeing this wonderful film. It provides all that one needs for a good evenings entertainment.
**** out of 5 stars.