POWER BALLAD

Power Ballad makes sweet music as only John Carney can do, once again delivering his whimsical blend of music and heartfelt storytelling, but with a plot that feels overly familiar to his other films and his weakest soundtrack of original songs to date, the film struggles to standout against Carney’s impressive filmography even with an ever charming Paul Rudd leading the film.

John Carney has carved out a niche in cinema for telling stories of struggling musicians filled with catchy original songs, memorable encounters and unforgettable heart with films like Once and Sing Street. It’s a formula that Carney has perfected and used time and time again, keeping the independent roots of his storytelling and filmmaking even as working with larger stars like Keira Knightley, Mark Ruffalo and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in his more recent films, and continues to use in his latest film Power Ballad. Even while the casting of Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas signifies that Power Ballad is Carney at his most commercial, the comfort of his storytelling and his music is never sacrificed and creates a crowd pleasing time from start to finish full of laughter, music and even the occasional tear. Paul Rudd harmonizes effortlessly with Carney and becomes the perfect lead for one of his films, but repetitive themes and plot beats recycled in Power Ballad by Carney prevents his latest film from being as memorable as his past efforts.

A stolen song, a musician reflecting on what his career could have been, a father daughter relationship, and the cost of fame. These are all the ideas at the centre of Power Ballad, and it is the exact type of story and trajectory audiences have come to expect from a Carney tune. In an original story from Carney and his co-star and co-writer Peter McDonald, what unfolds is breezy story of a down on his luck musician that after meeting one of the world’s biggest music superstars by chance, finds his song stolen by that same superstar and has become the biggest song in the world with no proof, evidence or credit confirming that it is in fact his song. Despite some heavier ideas grounding the story, the film never feels that weight as Carney and McDonald tell their story with an unbridled sense of fun, passion and humility that creates a good film for audiences of all ages to catch this summer that always entertains. Even as the film’s pacing begins to falter in the film’s second act as Carney and McDonald’s story gets stuck and does not move forward, instead spinning stuck in the same gear; the laughter that they pack into the screenplay keeps the entertainment value consistent and ensures that the pacing slowdown is nowhere near enough of a detriment to result in a bad film. The film finds its emotional high its final scene, creating a beautiful sequence that perfectly tugs on the heartstrings and gives an emotional honesty to the central messaging of Carney and McDonald’s writing, even if it happens at the absolute last and leaves you wishing that this honesty appeared earlier on in the third act to allow a deeper messaging to emerge by the film’s conclusion.

But, there is a feeling among fans of Carney’s work that they can’t shake as it feels like they’ve seen this same song play out from Carney before. It’s more than just the re-appearance of some of the songs used in Carney’s previous films, such as the street musician playing “Falling Slowly”, Rick claiming his song “Crumlin to L.A.” as one of his originals despite Orén Kinlan’s Max writing and performing that song in 2024’s Flora & Son, or “Maneater” being a song performed by Rick and his cover band despite being featured in Sing Street. The narrative itself feels like a mix of Begin Again and Flora & Son with the stolen song plot feeling very reminiscent of Keira Knightley’s Gretta’s relationship with her song “Lost Stars”, and the parent child relationship between Rick and Aja echoing that of Flora and Max. Within the context of Rick grappling with the fame and long running career his musical talents could have brought him and the importance of his wife and daughter to him, there is enough to distinguish these similar narrative beats from Carney’s previous uses of them, but with the singular message of this film, and frankly that of every of Carney’s films; the healing power of music, it’s easy for Power Ballad to play like the greatest hits of Carney’s films at times. It’s never to the film’s absolute detriment, as Carney delivers pure joy and entertainment throughout Power Ballad, but given how fresh Carney’s storytelling felt in Once and Sing Street, it’s slightly disappointing to see Carney play it so safe in Power Ballad rather than trying something new within the confines of his tried and proven formula.

No matter the film, Rudd is always a delight to watch on screen, and his joyful comedic talents are a match made in heaven for Carney’s stylings. As Rick, Rudd’s comedic timing works great as Rick’s life spins out of control when the song he wrote becomes a worldwide sensation without his name attached to it, finding hilarious chaos in his personal rock bottom, while balancing it with an earnest lovingness for Rick’s family to play into the film’s theme of family. Rudd’s vocal abilities, while they will not have him making a Broadway musical debut or creating his own album any time soon, are solid enough to become the lead singer of a wedding cover band. Making up for what he lacks in power and range in his singing voice, Rudd brings an infectious energy to his musical performances that will have the audience grooving along with him as he tackles countless classic rock covers. In his performance of the film’s central song, “How to Write a Song Without You,”, Rudd’s more stripped back version of the song lets him infuse his performance with his character’s heart ache, joy and passion for music, helping to find the film’s emotional centre with a vulnerability that finds the essence of the film’s story.

Nick Jonas definitely has the music superstar persona covered and smooth voice to bring to life Danny, though when the screenplay calls on him to find a more dramatic depth to his character while searching for what the film’s central song means to him, Jonas’ performance sadly comes up short and feels hollow. While sharing the screen together, Rudd and Jonas have an infectious energy that captures a budding bromance in the film’s first act as they inspire each other’s musical pursuits, while their fateful reunion in the film’s third act has them using physical comedy to great effect at the same time as feeding off each other’s emotional outbursts to take their characters’ arcs to their conclusion. McDonald is a scene stealer as Rick’s bandmate Sandy, delivering some big laughs, Marcella Plunkett and Beth Fallon are delight as Rick’s wife and daughter respectively, and Jack Reynor does the trick as Danny’s manager Mac. Despite only having one small moment in the film, Havana Rose Liu is excellent, but she is so quickly written out to give the character of Danny someone to write a song without, that the emotional connection needed from her character to make Danny’s heartache feel sincere never truly develops.

Over the course of his films, Carney has ushered in some of the most memorable original songs in cinema for the past two decades, ranging from the Academy Award winning “Falling Slowly” from Once written by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová to the incredibly catchy “Drive It Like You Stole It” from Sing Street. And joining his songbook is “How to Write A Song Without You”, the central song of Power Ballad, and what a beautiful song it is. Written by Carney and his music co-writer Gary Clark, who previously worked on both the songs for Sing Street and Flora and Son, they create an emotionally charged ballad that not only features a moving chorus, but a catchy melody that will immediately worm its way into your ear. Whether it be the produced version sung by Jonas, or the more stripped down and evocative version performed by Rudd, “How to Write A Song Without You” delivers everything you want from a Carney tune. As expected from a Carney film, we have our first song worthy of being even considered to be in the conversation for best original song written for a film this year, but it is the rest of the original songs of the film performed by Jonas’ Danny that underwhelm. It is to an extent that they barely register as original songs, with instead the covers performed by Rick’s band being more memorable. Even with the strength of “How to Write A Song Without You”, as a whole Carney and Clark’s soundtrack never lives up to the standard set by their previous two collaborations, betting all their chips on one song rather than creating a solid lineup of original songs to flush out the film’s soundtrack.

No one creates a music based film like John Carney, overflowing with a hopeful optimism and sentiment that audiences could use more of every day, and it is for this reason that you can hope he won’t stop making them anytime soon. While his formula does not need any re-adjusting, as the stories he tells about the importance of music continue to hit the right emotional beats, the elements that John Carney and his co-writer Peter McDonald fill Power Ballad with causes this film to get lost in the familiarity of John Carney’s larger filmography despite the wonderful song “How to Write a Song Without You” at the centre of this film. Led by the ever wonderful Paul Rudd, who not only has some good musical performances in the film but shares a great onscreen chemistry with Nick Jonas, Power Ballad becomes an incredibly fun trip to the movies as its soundtrack of classic rock covers ensures a toe tapping good time, even if fans of John Carney’s filmography will be slightly disappointed in the repetitiveness of his latest film.