Meryl Streep is GREAT in this!
I know a lot of people might not agree, but I finally saw Ricki and the Flash on a flight home, and really enjoyed it. It's not the best movie of the year, but it certainly exceeded my expectations. And Meryl Streep is fantastic! She totally embodies her character, who is not the most likable, certainly not the most attractive, and come across self-absorbed. But there are people like this, and she nails it. She's performing in dive bars, and the way she interacts with the audience is exactly how artists I've watched perform communicate. She's not classy, and that's the point- she's HUMAN and she marches to her own drummer. When she suddenly has to return home because her grown daughter has attempted suicide, there are a lot of walls that have to be broken down and the juice Streep gives us is very believable.
I actually want to say I would rank this movie above her nominated works in Doubt and Postcards from the Edge, and yes I am going to say she is much more pleasing and funny here then she was in Hope Springs and Mamma Mia!. The movie was just marketed wrong. But if you get a chance, watch this movie and you'll see there are layers to her character. Just wonderful.