I am a big fan of movies where the music is the main character and that’s why I have been a big fan of John Carney since Once. He has made some of the most beautiful and authentic music films that will make you laugh, cry, and feel the power of great music. Every one of his films also creates these great unique songs that help tell the story. Power Ballard is no different, but admittingly, I’m a bit disappointed. This is a bad movie and fans should go see it. However, this not John Carney’s best effort. It’s a subpar movie compared to his other music films like Once, Begin Again, Sing Street, and even Flora & Son, but here’s the thing, every great director has one or two subpar movies that are not their best and unfortunately, not even Paul Rudd can make this movie great. And damn it, I wanted this movie to be better. I wanted the music to be better than what I’ve heard in his previous films , but sadly it’s not
Paul Rudd gives a great performance. He makes this movie better than it really. Even on Paul Rudd’s worst day, he can still make a movie better through his great performances. He was especially good in this film because of him getting a chance to sing. Having Nick Jonas who is a good actor in his own right was a big plus for this movie. And even the main song that serves as its own character in the film, How to Write a Song, but it doesn’t feel as epic as some of the previous songs from his films like Falling Slowly or Lost Stars. Like any great director, they have those films that are not as epic and that’s what this is for John Carney. It’s still enjoyable, the music is good, but it’s also very simple story. It’s the story of a Rockstar stealing a song from another musician and him trying to reclaim it while nobody including his own family believes that he actually wrote it. His other stories have been more heartfelt and poetic. Once is a fantastic love story wrapped up in this beautiful / heartbreaking music because it’s a story where the guy doesn’t get the girl in the end, but shows how much he loves her the only way he can. All of his films have been love stories to a point And maybe Power Ballard is a love story on some level, but not in the same way as his previous work. There’s some nice moments in the film. Peter McDonald steals every scene that he’s in. There’s a lot to like about this movie and I think it will be a genuine crowd pleaser.
Still, my biggest argument is not that this movie is bad, it’s just not up to the standard of John Carney’s past work and you must have more than an A-list star to make a movie good. It’s also a shorter film than his previous work which makes me think there was more backstory that would have helped the film. Begin Again It’s probably my favorite of his work because you get two points of views from the main characters played by Mark Ruffalo and Keira Knightley. And that movie is not centered on just one hit song, there’s a full soundtrack. Very much like Once where there was more than one song that really made the movie. John Carney does make this a very heartfelt and emotional movie. The main song can make you cry. Unfortunately there’s not enough unique music, it relies too much on just one song and I get it, it’s a story about one great song. The film is still good for what it is, but if you are used to John Carney’s past work, this movie It’s very average compared to other great movies. In fact, all his previous films I’ve given an eight or better. This one is adequate at best and doesn’t have the same emotional weight, but it’s still a good movie for a date night.
