Meryl Streep stars in “Ricki and the Flash,” and totally rocks her role as Ricki Randazzo, musician and lead vocalist in her band, the Flash. The supporting cast includes Streep's daughter, Mamie Gummer, as Ricki's daughter, Kevin Kline, and singer/musician Rick Springfield.

A few decades earlier, Randazzo, real name Linda Brummell, left her husband and three young children behind in Indianapolis to pursue her dream of being a rock ‘n’ roll musician in Los Angeles.

She is called back to Indianapolis by her ex-husband Pete (Kline), to “be there for her daughter.” Daughter Julie (Gummer) has been on an emotional roller-coaster since her new husband left her because he was really in love with someone else.

Filled with trepidation, Ricki scrapes up the money for the journey, after which she will face the consequences of following her dream: her now grown children's feelings of anger, hostility and abandonment.

Streep's performance as Ricki the musician and Ricki the mother is, as we would expect, strong, realistic and true. Although Ricki never makes the big time, she continues to listen to her muse, making music by night with her band, The Flash. They are the in-house cover band at a small club, the Saw Mill, in the San Fernando Valley town of Tanzania.

All of the scenes with the band were filmed live. Streep learned to play rhythm guitar over a period of six months and one of her teachers was hard rockin’ Neil Young.

The musicians portraying The Flash are veterans: Springfield is Greg, lead guitar and leading man in Ricki's life; drummer Joe Vitale, who has toured with Joe Walsh, CSNY, The Eagles and a host of others; Bernie Worrell (of Talking Heads, Funkadelic and Parliament) on keyboards; and Rock Rosas on bass. Rosas died shortly after film was completed. He was Neil Young's bass player for decades, and also played for Etta James, Jerry Lee Lewis and others.

Streep pulls off Ricki's rock ‘n’ roller role with style. She has the rock musician movements down, all in high heeled boots, tight pants, tons of jewelry, funky blouses, and long, 80s-style hair — half braided and half loose on the side, and a voice that reminds you of Bonnie Raitt and Emmylou Harris.

The first scene with the band has them cranking out Tom Petty's “American Girl” to a bar room full of enthusiastic but aging hipsters who love to dance and relive the good old days. An original song written by Jenny Lewis and Jonathan Rice, “Cold One,” is a beautiful ballad sung by Streep while she plays acoustic guitar during the Indianapolis visit.

Off stage in Indianapolis, the tension is palpable in scenes between Rikki and Julie, with her two sons, Adam and Joshua, and her ex, who we discover still loves his first wife. Pete has been married to Maureen (Audra McDonald) for most of the time Ricki's been gone, because, as he tells Ricki, the kids needed a mother.

Because Ricki is broke, she ends up staying at Pete and Maureen's enormous and gorgeous house. In a particularly raw scene, Pete goes up to Julie's room to let her know her mother is there. He comes back to say Julie is tired, but would be happy to see her the next day. Julie hurricanes downstairs screaming she is not happy to see Ricki. Julie goes on noting her mother wasn't at the wedding, but she sure got a front row seat for the break-up.

Then, sizing up Ricki's rocker appearance, Julie asks: “Do you always travel looking like a hooker from 'Night Court’?”

It's not until Ricki cajoles Julie out of the house for breakfast (on soon to be ex Max's credit card) that she learns Julie tried to commit suicide, a detail Pete omitted. Julie is also in therapy and on anti-depressant meds.

Ricki calls Greg and tells him about her daughter and how she blames herself for what is happening to Julie.

Julie isn’t the only family member with “Ricki issues.” In a confrontation with Pete, in which he talks about Maureen and the kids after she left, Ricki tells him she had to follow her dream.

“I thought we were your dream,” Pete says.

“Can’t I have two dreams?” she replies.

“No. You can’t.”

Ricki’s son Adam is bitter, and it is evident in every word and gesture. At a family dinner — in public no less — where Ricki meets Joshua’s fiancée, Emily, in the middle of being introduced to the young woman, Adam, with acid dripping from each syllable uttered says, “Oh, don’t you know, you’re in the presence of greatness, this is Ricki Randazzo.”

But, the Brummel family members come to realize that the love for one another they thought was gone was only buried. The family situations are portrayed genuinely by this cast in a film that is alternately intense and comedic — and let's not forget the great music.

Gummer demonstrates her dramatic chops in a perfect performance. Kline and Springfield portray the two men in Ricki's life with sensitivity and heart.

Between the drama and the music, “Ricki and the Flash” explores the issues of consequences, forgiveness, and most of all, love in this broken family unit.

And, let's not forget the music! Streep gives it her all, as always, and, as always, does not disappoint. Her performance alone is a rockin’ reason to see this film.

“Ricki and the Flash” plays at 7 p.m. at The Harbor Theatre in Boothbay Harbor Friday, Aug. 21 through Tuesday, Aug. 25, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 23.