Review of Ricki and the Flash (2015) by Harper S — 21 Aug 2015

Everybody. First of all my wife says to tell everyone that Meryl Streep carried the movie.

Well it's true, but the movie is a very pure example of a movie that has a plot but no character development.

The end result is that watching the movie is frustrating. It's like watching a court case in which an innocent man is sent to Death Row because his attorney neglected to present any evidence. Only in this case Death Row is the row in which I was seated. In a movie "evidence" is a convincing performance that somehow enables the audience to connect with and understand the characters. It's easy to present evidence because the screenwriters and directors just make it up. But they didn't. It's just one more in a string of experiences I've had in the last few weeks in which professionals collect the money and expect me to do their job.

The plot is that Ricki never spent time raising her kids, but now is called back to her ex-husband's home to help when her now-adult daughter is cracking up because she is getting divorced. Ricki interacts with her daughter, but is asked to leave by her ex-husband's new wife. The new wife tells Ricki off: well, that's the end of it. Ricki never responds, but flies home and goes on with her life. We never find out what happens with the daughter. Later Ricki is invited to her son's wedding. Who is this guy? Except for dinner, this is the first I've seen of him. The son's bride is all frowns when she looks at Ricki, but when Ricki's band starts playing, the bride suddenly turns cool. Everyone starts dancing. Do you want to pay $22 for this? If you want to enjoy the move and save $11, tell your spouse to go without you.