DVD REVIEWS
RICKI AND THE FLASH
(out of 4) Meryl Streep enthusiastically rocks the mic and jangles the guitar as the title Ricki, with real rocker Rick Springfield and several studio aces backing her, in Jonathan Demme’s latest music-themed movie.
He lets the camera linger on the opening cover of Tom Petty’s “American Girl,” wherein Streep and Springfield establish their great chemistry together, even though their characters Ricki and Greg can’t quite find the beat as offstage lovers. She calls it “banter.” He calls it romance.
Ricki left behind in Indianapolis a disgruntled ex-husband (Kevin Kline), two estranged sons (Sebastian Stan and Nick Westrate) and a furious daughter (Mamie Gummer, Streep’s real daughter).
Things get soapy, as Demme and screenwriter Diablo Cody shift into an entire season’s worth of daytime drama clichés.
Ricki has more psychic baggage than she does braids, bangles and tattoos.
But the felicitous pairing of Streep and Springfield make Ricki and the Flash worth rocking out to.
Extras include deleted scenes and a making-of featurette.
DON’T LOOK BACK
(out of 4) You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the disc turns. This Criterion Blu-ray special edition of the definitive Bob Dylan film, a newly restored 4K digital transfer with oodles of extras, is a must-purchase for any serious rock-movie lover. D.A. Pennebaker’s fly-on-thewall classic from 1967 follows Dylan on his 1965 British tour, as the mystery tramp and Joan Baez, his then-lover and fellow musician, took the country by storm.
We see Dylan onstage and backstage, in cars and hotel rooms, in the street with fans and in corners by himself, contemplating the madness that surrounds and threatens to engulf him.
He is by turns charming and obnoxious, humble and full of himself, fascinated and frightened by his appeal. His put-downs of English pop rival Donovan — whom Dylan flattens with “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” in a hotel duel — suggest a boy/man aware of his power and afraid of losing it.
Extras include a Don’t Look Back guidebook, assorted outtakes and commentaries and five extra audio tracks. Reviews by Peter Howell