Meryl Streep stars as Ricki Rendazzo, a guitar heroine who made a world of mistakes as she followed her dreams of rock-and-roll stardom. Returning home, Ricki gets a shot at redemption and a chance to make things right as she faces the music with her family.
Just when the story beats start to feel unbearably obvious, the film changes keys, becoming less family dramedy than a concert film.
– Spencer Kornhaber,
The Atlantic,
7 Aug 2015
rotten:
The film, which Diablo Cody wrote and Jonathan Demme directed, is a work of bulk-size bogusness. Barely a single scene is convincing.
– Wesley Morris,
Grantland,
7 Aug 2015
rotten:
Despite Streep's best efforts, Ricki seems more of a contrivance than a flesh-and-blood character.
– Peter Rainer,
Christian Science Monitor,
7 Aug 2015
fresh:
Streep's latest mom role, as Ricki Rendazzo in Ricki and the Flash, has a light, Mamma Mia! vibe, but it still hits all those hot buttons.
– Susanna Schrobsdorff,
TIME Magazine,
7 Aug 2015
fresh:
The movie is mature in the way it handles the regrets of absentee parents and the ways in which their children relate to them. There's a little Hollywood artifice here but not so much that the emotions feel inauthentic.