Power Ballad review: 'sentimental life lessons'
Although it shows some promise early on, John Carney’s film about a stolen pop song soon descends into pure cringe, writes Alistair Harkness
Power Ballad (15) ★★
Ever since breaking through with the delicately wrought indie hit — and subsequent best song Oscar-winner - Once, Irish filmmaker John Carney has been trying to recapture its groove. First came the laughably bad music industry themed rom-com Begin Again, featuring Keira Knightley as a sub-Nora Jones singer-songwriter taking her music direct to the people after being dumped by her suddenly famous rockstar boyfriend. Next came the similarly treacly 1980s-set Sing Street, a kind of ersatz version of The Commitments, with rubbish period detail and abysmal acting.
Though it has its fans, it also suggested the creative well had run dry, something 2023’s slightly better, if still formulaic, Flora and Son, did little to counter.
Now comes Power Ballad, a fun-in-places vehicle for Paul Rudd, here very much trading on his own innate likability as an otherwise embittered Ireland-based wedding singer called Rick Power, whose dream of still making it is briefly ignited when he crosses paths with a former boyband heartthrob looking to reinvent himself.
Played by former boyband heartthrob Nick Jonas (of Jonas Brothers fame), this is Danny Wilson, a vapid pop star worried that a future full of dignity-diminishing appearances on reality TV shows is very much on the cards. (The reference to the 1980s Scottish pop band incidentally is deliberate; the music was co-written by Carney and Danny Wilson frontman Gary Clark.) After bonding with Rick at a wedding he’s attending, the pair hit it off, drunkenly jamming all night as Danny plays him his new demos and Rick plays him a song he’s been tinkering with on and off for years.
It’s here the film comes closest to recapturing some of the magic of Once, with Carney zeroing in on the way inspiration can suddenly ignite and Rudd and Jonas’ vocals and acoustic noodling authentically catching the way music can be a short-cut to something deeper. Sadly, as the the film jumps forward six months and Rick’s song becomes a hit for Danny with no acknowledgment of its provenance, the rest of the film is pure cringe, filled with implausible set pieces and sentimental life lessons as Rick sets out to confront Danny while coming to terms with the grudge he’s subconsciously been holding against his own family since giving up his dream of being a rockstar when his daughter was born.
It doesn’t help either that the ear-wormy song that’s played ad infinitum is the sort of bland corporate rock dirge that someone like Rick, who’s supposedly dewy-eyed about the alt-rock scene of the early 90s (he still has Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains posters on his wall), wouldn’t be caught dead playing. Nor does it aid matters that Jonas lacks the requisite acting chops to elevate his barely written character the way Rudd manages as the film flirts with going a little darker.
Maybe it’s asking too much for a movie called Power Ballad not to descend into overheated sentimentality, but did it have to be so one note?
The Scotsman’s arts newsletter is now sent twice a week - subscribe today
Want the latest Scottish headlines sent directly to your phone? Sign up to our new WhatsApp channel here
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.