John Carney, writer/director of other musical comedies like Sing Street and Once returns with Power Ballad, the story of two musicians who butt heads over the ownership of a new hit single.
Its success could change either of their lives forever, but both men seem to think it belongs to them.
‘Rock is dead. I don’t wanna sound like it was better in our day but…it was better in our day.’
Paul Rudd stars as Rick Power, an ex-rocker who once dreamt of touring the world and playing to an adoring crowd in a venue like Madison Square Garden, but swapped out stardom for fatherhood when he fell in love with his wife Rachel gigging in Ireland. Fifteen years later, he’s the proud dad of his pop-loving teenage daughter, Aja, but finds himself languishing in middle age playing covers with his snappily-named wedding band The Bride & Groove, who all seem to have followed him down the same pipeline.
We join him as the band plays a small wedding, filling the floor with a rendition of Celebration (Rudd seems to have done all of his own singing for the film, which sounds a little off for the known classics but works well for the film’s original tunes) before clearing it all over again with one of Rick’s own songs. Like Ryan Gosling in La La Land, he’s understandably keen to throw some of his own work into the mix yet comes into conflict with his boss who’d rather have him rattling off tried and tested hits. Creativity be damned.
Fate seems to throw him a bone when ex-boy-bander Danny Wilson (played by Nick Jonas, in a spot of clever casting) attends Rick’s very next wedding gig as an old friend of the happy couple. The pair hit it off quite quickly, sharing a stage one minute and a ‘substantially enhanced’ cigarette the next, bonding over the difficult task of getting a song out of your head and into the world.
Danny, too, could do with some inspiration, his solo career utterly stagnant and his label ready to cut him loose if he can’t bring a true hit to the table. Enter an artificially mellowed Rick who, sensing a kindred creative spirit, plays him just the right song – a real ear-worm years in the making and, with no record of it anywhere, Danny’s for the taking – an overnight hit that catapults him right back into superstardom, to Rick’s chagrin.
What follows is a surprisingly involving struggle for recognition – a maddeningly uphill battle for Rick. Everyone loves the song and yet no-one seems to believe Rick when he stakes a claim to it – even his family and bandmates. Rudd plays the franticness of rummaging through every file and scrap of sheet music in his study for a sign of the song’s true origins – his work, rather than Danny’s – really well.
He’s a man on the edge – nearly tearing his hair out as he scrambles for proof – but I was caught off guard but how easily I was able to come along on that journey with him and how peeved I was on his behalf. Those Jonas Brothers – always up to no good…
The film holds back on vilifying Danny’s side of the argument, though, and is all the better for it. His position is dire and fragile – kept in the pocket of an overbearing manager – and Jonas stokes some sympathy by keeping Danny on the back foot; a much less commanding personality than one would expect from a character like him.
Carney and his co-writer Peter McDonald (who steals the show as Rick’s adorable ‘ride or die’ bandmate and closest friend, Sandy) have marketed Power Ballad’s central conflict in a way that implies a grey area around who actually wrote the song, but it’s hard to feel any sense of doubt about its origin if you’re paying any kind of attention. The story doesn’t really need to take that angle anyway – it’s compelling enough as is – though it might’ve fleshed out Danny’s character a little more (he’s absent for great swathes of this as we focus on Rick’s reckless climb to the top in search of some credit).
I wasn’t immediately on board with following Rick and the gang’s ‘dad rock’ antics. The past-it, old rocker character isn’t exactly fresh and it feels slightly odd that Rick claims the all important song is a rock ballad when it feels more in tune with a pop chart-topper. Havana Rose Liu has a small role as Danny’s long-term girlfriend who he hopes will be the one, but all she gets to do is stand in a baggy jumper and look at him with starry eyes, a far cry from the incredible heights of her performance in Tuner, which is also out this week.
That being said, though, the key frustration at the heart of the narrative – one of fighting to be believed in a climate where even your nearest and dearest seem to be naysayers – carries the narrative along well enough to remain engaging. The whole thing builds to a fun third act, too, with an emotional conclusion that hits just the right note for a sentimental musical comedy like this one – enough to put a little mist in the eye without spilling over into something more saccharine.
BBFC: Rated 15 for strong language.
Power Ballad is in cinemas now.
