Power Ballad is a new film by John Carney, the Irish writer and director who has long been known for consistently making movies about music. His stories often explore the power of music and personal connection, including the indie hit Once (2007), Begin Again (2013) and Sing Street (2016).
While many of his films have garnered a loyal fanbase over the years, not everyone truly connects with Carney's work or its particular atmosphere. Some of his movies can feel as though they are trying a little too hard to delve into the psyche of artists or dramatise their lives behind the curtain, sometimes resulting in an overly exaggerated or even cringeworthy presentation.
But in Power Ballad, Carney appears to have stepped away from his usual high-drama formula and instead fully embraced comedy, albeit comedy with plenty of heart. Starring the forever-young Paul Rudd alongside real-life singer-songwriter Nick Jonas, the film follows the intersecting paths of two musicians. One is a washed-up musician whose dream of stardom never quite happened, while the other is a former teen idol trying to reinvent himself as a serious artist.
Rudd plays Rick Power, an American musician who came close to making it big with his band but never quite reached stardom. Years ago, while touring Ireland, he fell in love with a local woman, settled down, and raised a family there. Now in his late fifties, Rick spends his days performing in a wedding band, but he still writes songs and still holds onto the dream. At one wedding gig, Rick and his band cross paths with Danny Wilson, played by Jonas. Danny is a former boy-band idol attempting to launch an adult solo career.
The two spend the evening drinking, jamming, swapping ideas and playing unfinished songs for one another. Rick shares part of a song he has been working on for years, and Danny instantly falls in love with it. The pair end up developing the tune together before going their separate ways. Life continues until one day Rick hears his song playing through the speakers of a shopping mall. The track has become a chart-topping hit recorded by Danny. Unable to get in touch with the singer and desperate to convince people that he actually wrote the song, Rick spends the rest of the film trying to reclaim the recognition he believes he deserves.
We all know that Nick Jonas is a famous singer, so it is hardly surprising to see him playing a musician. Meanwhile, Rudd is not a musician in real life and it is fairly obvious at times that he cannot actually play guitar. Fortunately, clever cinematography and camera angles do enough to sell the illusion. What surprised me much more was discovering that Rudd can genuinely sing and quite well at that. There is a particularly enjoyable scene in which Rick and Danny perform Stevie Wonder's I Wish together. Listening to them sing side by side, it becomes clear that Rudd is more than capable of holding his own alongside Jonas. Unfortunately, most of the musical performances throughout the film appear to have been pre-recorded and later lip-synced by the actors. It is a minor detail that many viewers probably will not notice, but it occasionally takes away some of the spontaneity of the performances.
Jonas also proves surprisingly effective in the role. What initially appears to be a smug and pretentious pop star gradually reveals itself to be a struggling artist who genuinely wants to prove both his record label and the wider world wrong about whether or not he has real talent. It certainly helps that Jonas himself came from a boy-band background. The production is able to incorporate archival footage, paparazzi images, concert clips and tabloid-style media coverage that help establish Danny's celebrity status and make the character feel more authentic.
Still, the film ultimately belongs to Paul Rudd. Rick is the emotional centre of the story and Rudd delivers a wonderfully grounded performance as a musician who never quite made it. The story could easily have turned him into a bitter or self-pitying character. Instead, through a combination of clever writing and Rudd's natural charm, Rick remains consistently sympathetic. He is far from perfect and occasionally makes frustrating decisions, but I found myself rooting for him throughout the film.
Among the supporting cast, Jack Reynor and Peter McDonald receive the most substantial material. Reynor plays Mac, a music industry executive who represents some of the less admirable aspects of the business. He suspects that something about Danny's new hit is not quite right, yet he chooses the money generated by a successful single over any moral concerns. McDonald plays Sandy, one of Rick's oldest friends and bandmates. Sandy is loud, rough around the edges, fiercely loyal, and often hilarious. His chemistry with Rudd is excellent, and together they provide many of the film's biggest laughs.
A lot of the music featured throughout the film consists of cover songs, but that does not make them any less enjoyable. Like the guests attending the weddings where Rick's band performs, I found it difficult not to smile and sing along. There are also a handful of original songs scattered throughout the story.
John Carney has always been fascinated by the origin story of a song. Just as Begin Again revolved around the creation of Adam Levine's Lost Stars, Power Ballad centres on How To Write A Song Without You, which becomes both the emotional theme of the film and the source of its central conflict.
Now, if you are not a fan of pop ballads or songs that get stuck in your head for days, consider yourself warned. How To Write A Song Without You is played repeatedly throughout the film. It is not a bad song by any means, but I personally do not think it is particularly special either. It's certainly not the kind of song that makes you think "yes, somebody would risk stealing this".
Even so, that is a relatively minor complaint in what is otherwise a genuinely lovely film. The story contains just the right amount of complication, heartache, and emotional conflict to motivate its characters without feeling forced. Rick's relationship with his wife and daughter is not always pushed to the forefront, yet the film still gives us a strong understanding of what they mean to one another. Because of that, several emotional moments land with surprising force. The film uses those quieter and sadder moments to generate dramatic momentum, but it never dwells in melancholy long enough to drag down the overall experience. Instead, it strikes a satisfying balance between humour and emotion, combining endearing characters, laugh-out-loud moments, and music that consistently aims for the heart.
Power Ballad may not dig as deeply into the musician's psyche as some of Carney's earlier films. It is not technically perfect, it occasionally relies on narrative shortcuts, and its overall trajectory is fairly predictable. Yet despite those shortcomings, the feeling I walked away with after watching the film was one of warmth, optimism, and genuine uplift.
- Power Ballad
- Starring Paul Rudd, Nick Jonas, Peter McDonald
- Directed by John Carney
