Rockin' 'Ricki' a flash in the dramatic pan

What does it say about a motion picture when its entire plot, plus all its major emotional beats, can easily be squeezed into a two-minute. 31-second trailer?

It says that Meryl Streep's maverick rock 'n' roll mama movie "Ricki and the Flash" doesn't have much substance or complexity going for it.

"Ricki" marks a huge disappointment from the computerized pen of Oscar-winning writer (and Lemont native) Diablo Cody, whose dramatically neutered screenplay trafficks in character shortcuts, halfhearted/easily resolved conflicts, and two of the most overused clichés in family drama-ramas: older characters hauling out the stash to show they're still cool, plus the ever-popular mandatory gay brother and/or son. (But only one per family, please.)

Jonathan Demme, undoubtedly Hollywood's most musically astute director (along with Cameron Crowe), showcases Streep's hard-rocking middle-aging Ricki belting out classic rock tunes (and a potent new one titled "Cold One") along with her tentative BF, guitarist Greg (a surprisingly youthful Rick Springfield) and the rest of her band, the Flash.

Demme devotes a lot of screen time to Ricki's concerts before a group of about 20 hard-core fans in the Salt Well Bar & Grill somewhere in the San Fernando Valley.

It's easy to see why. The musical numbers supply the passion, drive and emotion that the rest of "Ricki and the Flash" severely lacks.

Ricki, whose real name turns out to be a more conventional Linda, finally answers her constantly ringing phone. Her ex-husband Pete (Kevin Kline) has been calling to tell her that their daughter Julie (Streep's daughter Mamie Gummer) has been abandoned by her husband. She's in bad shape.

How bad? After flying back to Indianapolis to where Pete lives in a palatial gated-community mansion, Ricki discovers that Julie attempted suicide with pills. But she's OK now. Apparently.

Julie instantly rips into Ricki/Linda the moment she sees her, releasing her pent-up anger at her mother for abandoning the family to pursue a poor-paying rock musician's career. ("But it was my dream!" Ricki lamely explains. "I thought we were your dream!" Pete says.)

In short order, Ricki alienates her ex, daughter Julie, about-to-be-married son Josh (Sebastian Stan), her angry gay son Adam (Nick Westrate) and Pete's protective new wife Maureen (the phenomenal Audra McDonald), who Cody doesn't bring into the story until well after Ricki arrives at the mansion, presumably so Pete's crack, "I feel like Jefferson at Monticello!" can be retroactively funny. (McDonald is black.)

Cody superficially resolves each conflict with a line or two of dialogue (Ricki publicly thanks Maureen for being her kids' "other mother" and it's all good). If that doesn't work, the all-purpose wedding rockout that you know is coming (because it's in the trailer!) mends all emo wounds.

These characters are mostly screenplay sketches that the the actors must fill in. Streep, Gummer, Spingfield and Kline fill them out splendidly.

Early on, Ricki disses President Obama on the Salt Well stage. She loves U.S. troops and all things conservative. She has an American flag tattooed on her back.

Cody clearly sets Ricki up to be a walking hand grenade of political conflict with her family. But nobody ever pulls her pin. Except for one wimpy passing exchange, this part of Ricki's character disappears as if it never existed, just like the movie's political conflict.

"Ricki and the Flash" can charitably be called a "feel OK" movie, Demme has directed some of the most tension-packed movies of the 20th century, among them "The Silence of the Lambs" and "Something Wild."

Yet, he is unable to extract a modicum of tension from Cody's modulated screenplay.

If you want to see and hear Streep get down with her Joan Jett self, go for it.

Or you could just buy the rockin' soundtrack and watch the "Ricki and the Flash" trailer one more time.

★ ★

Starring: Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Mamie Gummer, Audra McDonald, Rick Springfield

Directed by: Jonathan Demme

Other: A Tri-Star Pictures release. Rated PG-13 for drug use, language, sexual situations. 104 minutes