‘Ricki and the Flash’ star Rick Springfield doesn’t kiss and tell

It’s likely you’ve never heard of 61-year-old New Jersey grandmother Terry Cieri. The cheesy side braids, the stumpy- heeled, buckled half-booties: all major cringe factors.

Speaking of song numbers, the music in Ricki and the Flash is also a good addition to the story.

Ricki and the Flash favors conventional dramatic payoffs, but at least they’re hard-won, with Ricki fighting her way through class differences, ugly family history, and humiliation to find her place.

A level of comfort is obvious with Kline, her co-star in “Sophie’s Choice” and “A Prairie Home Companion”, who effortlessly plays the jilted husband, an affluent man with an impeccable sense of decorum. She is a constantly charmingly chameleon who can seduce the audience even with her most despicable characters. Yet there’s little she can do in the face of pedestrian direction (by Jonathan Demme) and a sketchy, disjointed script (by Diablo Cody.) Seeking spontaneity and release for her character, Ms. Streep gets stuck in a laboriousness that I don’t want to belabor, since her efforts are gallant-she does her own singing and playing-and there are fleeting moments of real fun. Music hath charms, but not enough to save this silly movie from itself. Rick Springfield was one of many actors considered for the role of Greg, Ricki’s guitar player and love interest, but few others so expertly fit the profile. Sadly, Rosas died shortly after filming, and the movie is dedicated to him. But Ricki And The Flash offers something unique for Springfield, whose “Jessie’s Girl” still stands as an unimpeachable Eighties power pop anthem.

There are several contradictions like this to ponder in between electric musical performances. Can Ricki fly to Indianapolis for some belated bonding? In fact, Ricki Rendazzo (aka Linda Brummell) turns out to be an anomaly wrapped in tight leather trousers: a runaway-mom/ L.A. rock musician/Republican-libertarian/Obama-hater.

Individuals stated lots of imply stuff about her after she gained an Oscar for her first screenplay for the 2007 comedy “Juno“. And she suggests that avoiding maternal responsibilities didn’t make Ricki a bad person, but a flawed one for deserting a duty she didn’t feel was in her range. She’s summoned back to her old life by ex husband Pete (Kevin Kline) when her eldest child Julie (Mamie Gummer, Streep’s real life daughter) has a breakdown. Streep plays Ricki as lovably oblivious, but also wry and caring when the occasion calls for it, and earnest in her desire for some sliver of redemption. Be aware, though, that the wedding feels like the most awkward ceremony you’ve ever attended. There was no question right from the absolute get go. Moving from the master of hipster dialogue to complex family themes was not something she set out as a career plan.

This exploration of what a mother is, or should be, could have provided something profound. It’s not hard to see why. (Certainly some female musicians have made it work, with difficulty.). Unable to wash her hair or change her clothes, she is accompanied by her mother, embarking on some unconventional mother-daughter activities. That goes for the ex-husband, and Ricki’s sons and daughter-in-law, too. “That was good for all of us”. But the prissy daughter-in-law is a vegan environmentalist at the same time. Like most supergroups, Ricki and the Flash fails to combine the strengths of its collaborators into anything revolutionary. By the way, Ricki is not completely broken. Her guitarist Greg (Rick Springfield) is ready for a relationship, but she’d rather stir up drama – because, after all, it worked so well for Fleetwood Mac. He said he actually took time off to raise his kids, and as a result, even he had trouble getting back into the biz.