We Can't Wait #2: Ricki and the Flash
Thursday, March 19, 2015 at 11:30AM Team Experience is counting down our 15 most anticipated. Margaret with our runner-up...
Rick Springfield & Meryl Streep. Will they make lovely music together?
Who & What: Oscar-winning director Jonathan Demme teams up with Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody for a dramedy starring Oscar-winning(-and-winning-and-winning) actress Meryl Streep. The story is about a woman who left her family behind to realize her dreams of rock'n'roll stardom, and returns years later to try and make things right with them. The script has been described as funny and touching, and the supporting cast includes Kevin Kline (Sophie's Choice reunion!) and her daughter Mamie Gummer (Heartburn reunion!). If you listen really close, you can hear the sound of the HFPA penciling this onto their 2016 ballots for the Best Musical or Comedy Golden Globe.
Why we're excited about it: First of all, who among us can say they don't want to see Meryl "Greatest Living Actress™" Streep all tatted up, strutting around in leather pants and combat boots while shredding on an electric guitar? And given the creative talents involved, the potential for this is sky-high. Both Jonathan Demme and Diablo Cody may have some misses in their filmography, but Demme is on an upswing following actressy gem Rachel Getting Married and if there's a chance that Diablo Cody has written a lead character half as excellent as Mavis Gary in 2011's Young Adult I will be camping out in front of my local multiplex from right this second until opening night. Plus 'musician neglects family, becomes rock star' is a kind of story that's almost always told about men, and has been at least a dozen times in the past decade. Points for freshness!
What if it all goes wrong?: The last time Meryl worked with Jonathan Demme, it was on The Manchurian Candidate, one of her worst performances to date. There's also the omnipresent danger of Meryl fatigue.
When: August 7, in that dependable spot where Streep vehicles have had so much counter-programming box office success.
Reader Comments (26)
Can't wait. I definitely have Meryl fatigue but I have high hopes for this. Diablo Cody is pretty incredible and I'm excited to see what Jonathan Demme and Meryl will do with this material.
A major plus for me is that Demme is one of the most musically inclined/interested directors working out there. He's done the music documentary thing so many times, it will be nice to see him apply his visual and aural sensibilities to a narrative music-centric film.
I was wondering what would be #2, since I think #1 is kind of a given.
I love Young Adult and Rachel Getting Married SO MUCH - this is definitely Meryl's best project "on-paper" since Prairie Home Companion (give or take Fantastic Mr. Fox.)
There are so many aging rock stars in reality that I'm not sure it has any freshness to it. Pacino just opened in a similar themed film so that may give an idea if the public will care. I am glad they cast Springfield who has the cred for the film but will share much of the same fan base as Meryl.
Is this a sequel to The Banger Sisters?
Demme, Cody, Streep - who could ask for anything more?
I hope it's good. Aren't Sebastian Stan and Audra MacDonald also in it? Streep apparently worked with Demme and Springfield to create a new music act.
Streep fatigue is nota a thing... Haters.
And she is nota the greatest living actress. She is The greatest actress of all times. Period
I have fatigue of Streep fatigue.
I'm happy she's still working successfully and enjoys it. At the age of 65, people.
Bette must smile somewhere down from heaven, because she knew who she was supporting.
She sings. That's all I need. Always.
The only thing I dread about this project is Grammy Award winner Rick Springfield's acting. And that could be a big thing.
The premise sounds generic as hell and sight unseen I'm not sure that Cody and Demme are really compatible voices, but I would love to see him working regularly at the studio level again, so I hope for all involved this turns out to be good - and a hit.
WHY IS MERYL WORKING ALL THE TIME?!?!
but seriously, excited for this!
Of all the films on this list, this is the one I'm fairly certain I'll be skipping. Not sure how y'all voted this one in. Sorry team.
Hoping this is a mix of Rachel Getting Married and Postcards from the Edge, with a dash of Young Adult.
To me this is picking up where "Postcards" left us. She showed us she could sing with a band, and this time she's doing another comeback. If I don't make it there opening night I will get there during the first week.
I love the fact that she is working, and challenging herself to do new things.
And if we get a decent original song she might even sing it at the Oscars.
Co-signing Amir on this one. I haven't liked Streep as much in anything since A Prairie Home Companion, and I like that this is sort of maybe in the same wheelhouse, so I'm not Meryl-fatiguing here (as I am wont to do). But Demme/Cody seems like a bizarrely impossible mix to me. And I can't say that doing nothing to one of the wheeziest plot constructions out there besides swapping the gender of the lead really "freshens" it in the way I find interesting.
OMG, Meryl will have 2 films released this year, a leading and a supporting role! BURN HER ALIVE.
As much as I LOVE Meryl I'm not really looking forward to this film. I'm sure I'll see it but the premise doesn't really interest me.
She's NOT the greatest living actress...merely one of the greats. But I must admit she's one of the most versatile - comedy, drama, musical - and she does well in each genre. Having said that, now I'm looking forward to your #1 - CAROL (starring one of my favourites...also one of the greats in my opinion...CATE).
No more Cate Blanchett , please!
Plenty of Cate Blanchett, please :)
Can't wait to see this one! Tired ass Meryl haters to the left! You have no place or value here.
Pretty excited for this one actually, Streep looks incredible, and the cast is pretty interesting as well, getting to see real life mother-daughter have a difficult relationship, and Streep re-teaming with Kline, plus Audra M. and the combination of Demme and Diablo even though it may seem odd that could be what makes their collaboration fantastic, so I'll keep my fingers crossed and counting the days for this one.
Where are you getting that Audra Mc. is in this? She isn't listed on the page for the film or her own page (IMDB) as being in the cast.
Henry- a rumor started that she was playing Kline's current wife... And then there was talk she would be part of Master Class with Streep as well... Nothing on IMDB so not sure why?