As the film opens with the band performing "American
Girl" in a dive bar Salt Well in Tarzana, in an almost 142 mins running
time, you expect an amalgamation of dramatic comedy and a concert film,with
some 'punch on your face' dialogues, but sadly enough, the only line that made
me laugh out loud was during the finale where, at her son's wedding, someone
asks Streep, 'So,how do you know the groom?', promptly comes her reply 'Through
cesarean!!'.
The film features quite an honest premise but suffers
terribly due to mediocre writing, direction & not so well etched out scenes
between the principal characters specially the tension between Streep's
character and her kids, comes off pretty weak.The initial chemistry between
Streep and Grummer (her real life daughter) is unsettling. Their is too much
fierceness but not enough nuanced anger (we can never get anything better than
Unishe april & Autumn Sonata, can we?). Grummer holds her own with her
Mom—fiercely vulnerable. One really decent line comes across when Rick
Springfield comments: "It's not the kids' job to love you, it's your job
to love them!"
Meryl Streep is bang on! Check her out in one scene when she
nervously twitches her hands at the thought of becoming reacquainted with her
two sons, an example of the attention to detail and the angst she can draw from
her character, much much better than her loudness in August Osage County (one
film where i hated her to the core!). Well, Streep might lose out her Oscar
nomination this year!!
