Loved this. “Huh?” you may say. “Wasn’t this some unknown movie that came out to little fanfare and bombed at the box office?” Well, yeah, that is true but Ricki and the Flash totally didn’t deserve to be forgotten. While many lesser films like Pixels and the remake / reboot of Vacation played to wide audiences (although neither as big as expected). Ricki and the Flash was completely ignored and that’s a shame.
I love a well-made family drama with interesting characters and awesome acting – Ricki and the Flash has it all. The cast is extraordinary with the always amazing Meryl Streep leading the way, completely believable (as usual again) as the aging rocker mother who abandoned her family to chase a dream that never materialized. Kevin Kline is wonderful as well as the ex-husband trying to get the family back on track after several crisis have caused them to come together again. Special notice has to also be given to Meryl Streep’s real daughter who also does an incredible job of playing this broken, grumpy, socially awkward daughter in the film and it was so cool to see Rick Springfield acting again (and playing guitar). He’s a true highlight as well. The film was written by Diablo Cody who is best known for Juno but I think this may be her finest work to date. The ending is an emotional one-two punch that really pulls everything together. This is a little gem you probably missed but highly recommended.