This is the movie that establishes once and for all that Meryl Streep can transform into practically anyone—from an old rabbi in Angels in America to a neurotic cancer-ridden mother in August: Osage Country, to a fairy tale witch in Into the Woods, and a million other characters. In this movie, she’s a singer/guitarist. And it is one thing to know how to sing and play the guitar, but it’s an entirely different thing to fully transform into a certified rockstar.
Streep is the gem of this semi-funny, semi-heartbreaking flimsy film by Oscar-winning director Jonathan Demme and Academy Award-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody. She is an ageing rockstar here, forced to return home to her estranged family to be of some assistance to her depressed daughter (played by her real-life daughter Marmie Gummer). A little tension with the ex-husband (Kevin Kline), a romantic tension with band member Greg (Rick Springfield), and an awkward re-connection with her grown-up children, and that's just about it.
The music is great and Streep is extremely fun to watch—that vocal range, that full rockstar regalia, and that rejected-mother and flat-broke musician vibe is simply enjoyable. But the movie is only noteworthy because of Streep and the music. She single-handedly carries this middling tale of a dysfunctional family/traumatized children, that you’ll go home only impressed with Streep—and thinking about getting the OST album.
Opens September 9, 2015 in the Philippines, exclusive at Ayala Malls Cinemas
Photo courtesy of Columbia Pictures
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