There’s charm in this starry family drama, but it’s too often uneven and underwhelming. Meryl Streep’s Ricki long ago abandoned her family to pursue her dreams of rock stardom. But years later, when her daughter (Gummer, Streep’s real-life daughter) has a crisis, the still-struggling punk reluctantly comes home to confront her mistakes.
As ever, Streep is impressive, performing all her songs live and showing gruff attitude as a woman who is true to herself no matter how ridiculous others find her, and a strong finale makes up for some mid-section flab. But every character feels one scene short of a really powerful relationship drama.
