CheerupSilver Very Cool!!!

BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

MartinHafer I have the utmost respect for Meryl Streep as an actress. She is amazing and has deserved all the acclaim for her roles in a wide variety of exceptional movies. That being said, a few years ago she made "Mama Mia"...which proved that despite her prodigious talents, Ms. Streep cannot do everything...especially when it came to singing. Perhaps this is why she later made "Ricki and the Flash"...to prove she really COULD sing. And, while she was passable, it just convinced me that once again Meryl should NOT be singing in her films. Inexplicably...Streep just finished another musical..."Mama Mia! Here We Go Again". Please, please stop already!!The story begins with a long song delivered by Meryl in a honkeytonk....and there was much more of this to come. If they'd just stopped with that one song, it might have been okay. They didn't. You learn that Meryl left her family to pursue her musical career. Her husband (Kevin Kline) has since remarried and they've both lived totally separate lives since. However, their daughter (played by Streep's real life daughter) is having emotional problems and he has invited her to come back to see their daughter, and, perhaps, to help. What comes after that is pretty cliched, though the film DOES have some excellent moments and might even elicit a few tears. My problem is the shameless way the film had Ricki (Streep) come and perform at her son's wedding and, apparently, that just made everything great and the film ends. Thank heaven for the magical power of Meryl's singing....not.The bottom line is that this movie would have been excellent if there never had been any singing at all...and the singing was a distraction. Additionally, the band actually had, as lead guitarist, Rick Springfield...a guy who really CAN sing and make music....why not let him sing if you insist on having singing?! Overall, I was pretty disappointed in this one...mostly because Meryl is a mega-talent....just not when it comes to singing.

leethomas-11621 I loved Meryl in this movie. As we all know, she is an amazing, amazing actor. Worth watching for her performance alone. But there is a lot more to the movie as well. Great to see Rick Springfield and Kevin Kline. Shortening the Ricki and the Flash performances though would have helped.

gavin6942 A musician (Meryl Streep) who gave up everything for her dream of rock-and-roll stardom returns home, looking to make things right with her family.This film ended up on my to-see list simply because I wanted to pay tribute to Jonathan Demme. This is not one of his better films, and despite what the DVD cover says, this is not one of Streep's best films, either. Heck, it is not even Diablo Cody's best work. It is middling on all counts, an average plot fleshed out with musical numbers.In more ways than one, this is sort of like Demme's "Rachel Getting Married". So, if you liked that, maybe you will like this. I may have enjoyed this one marginally more simply because it doesn't have Anne Hathaway. But both have damaged characters and a wedding as a central scene.

mark.waltz Actors are children playing hide and ego seek, Margo Channing sings in "Applause!", the musical version of " All About Eve". Meryl Streep plays Rikki's Choice, choosing rock and roll over husband Kevin Kline and their three kids, and returns for a family crisis, only to find that she ain't so welcome. They are all selfish, overly needy, and resentful (perhaps justified), and like many before, Meryl finds you can't go home. An adamant request from Kline's perfect second wife (Audra McDonald) basically cements Streep's place in the family, especially since she insists on keeping those wild braids, garfish eye make-up, and black leggings on while trying to re-bond.It's difficult to picture Streep as a rocker, failed or not, but I'll say she's far more successful than Tom Cruise in "Rock if Ages" (which isn't saying a lot). She doesn't escape into the character like she normally does. Even though she surprised me singing country and western in "Postcards From the Edge", her attempts at '70's rock is forced. They were wise to choose Rick Springfield as her liver/guitarist, who really should have been the lead singer than off on the side.While the Lifetime feel of the movie is obvious, that isn't the reason that I can't recommend this beyond a single viewing. It seems to take pleasure in showing the worst of society today through new wave weddings, a self absorbed generation with no humor and a far too serious view of themselves. That finale just really reeks of desperation.