Few filmmakers know how to tell a cinematic tale of musicians yearning to sing their hearts out as John Carney. After such moving efforts as Once, Sing Street, Begin Again and Flora and Son, he returns with Power Ballad, a tale of a has been/never was wedding band musician, Rick Power (Paul Rudd), whose lyrics and song idea are stolen by a more famous singer, Danny Wilson (Nick Jonas). What is a nice guy to do with such a conundrum?
The movie is charming, often funny, and well acted. But the song at the heart of it, How to Write a Song (Without You), is a true stinker, a melodramatic, hokey boy band ballad that outwears its welcome early on; sadly, we end up hearing it so many times I nearly became nauseous by the end. Also, Rick claims to be struggling with money, and on the brink of going broke, yet is easily capable of buying a Dublin-to-Los Angeles flight at the spur of a moment. The movie's characters behave like real people, but their actions are often those of fictional characters - unfortunately
John Carney has done better work, and - I hope - will do great work again. Power Ballad is his most forgettable effort yet - and it's easy to see why: a movie about music should contain better tunes than this one does.
☆☆
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