‘Ricki and the Flash’ trailer: Meryl Streep between rock and a hard place

Meryl Streep’s title character in the music dramedy “Ricki and the Flash” totally rocks when it comes to playing guitar, singing and dressing cool — but not so much when it comes to being a mom.

Set for release Aug. 7 on Sony’s TriStar label, “Ricki” finds Streep playing a grocery store clerk by day and rock musician by night who long ago chose her dreams of music stardom over her family, including ex-husband Pete (Kevin Kline), daughter Julie (Mamie Gummer, Streep’s real-life progeny) and son Joshua (Sebastian Stan).

As seen in the film’s first trailer (above), Ricki gets one more chance at redemption when she learns that Julie’s marriage has fallen apart, prompting her to hop the next flight home and help her daughter through the difficult time.

“She’s going to be all right,” Ricki tells Pete’s new wife, Maureen (Audra McDonald). “She’s always been a fighter.”

“Well, she’s had to be,” Maureen replies with thinly veiled disapproval.

As Streep fans well know, the 19-time Oscar nominee is a veteran of family dramas (“Kramer vs. Kramer,” “August Osage County”), musicals (“Mamma Mia,” “Into the Woods”) and just about everything else, and with “Ricki” she has some big-name collaborators on the other side of the camera.

The film is directed by Jonathan Demme, whose credits include “The Silence of the Lambs,” “Philadelphia” and helmed several music movies, among them the Talking Heads concert documentary “Stop Making Sense.”

Demme directed “Ricki” from a script by “Juno” writer Diablo Cody, who drew inspiration for Streep’s character from her own mother-in-law. Between that and Streep and Gummer’s mother-daughter connection, “Ricki” promises to be quite the family affair.

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