John Carney’s newest film “Power Ballad” is a funny but overly produced musical. The film stars Paul Rudd as a wedding singer and Nick Jonas as a faded boy band star. The film was screened at the Desertscape International Film Festival prior to the June 5 release.
When Rick Power (Rudd) meets Danny Wilson (Jonas) at a wedding, they perform a song together followed by a boozy jam-sesh. Power plays an unfinished song he’s been working on for 15 odd years before parting ways with Wilson.
The film jumps forward six months when Power hears his very own song, “How to Write a Song (without you)” sung by Wilson on the radio. Power spends the rest of the film trying to prove his writing credit while the song thrusts Wilson back into the spotlight.
Power varies from a typical wannabe rockstar, at least as far as Hollywood goes, as a family man. It’s a refreshing take and delivers a payoff at the end of the movie.
Although Rudd was listed as the main singer for all of his songs, an overly edited and autotuned version was used for his “live” wedding performances. The sound starkly contrasts with his unedited voice when he sings a line here or there with Jonas or when writing new music. The overly edited version felt out of place and took the viewer out of the movie. It felt like watching a concert recording rather than a glimpse into the life of a struggling artist.
Jonas delivered a mediocre performance that largely seems to reflect his own life. Wilson is a former boy band member who continues to produce music but hasn’t had commercial success since the band split. Jonas seemed to play himself and lacked the ability to delve deeper into the character.
There were funny moments in the film but most felt forced. For a movie with at least 65 f-words, the humor likely won’t land for older audiences but has too much swearing for a parent to take their child to the movie.
The originality of the movie was refreshing but didn’t carry the movie far enough to become a classic. Carney’s previous movie “Sing Street” captured the musicality and humor a movie needs to retain an audience. There were excessive musical numbers in the movie that would have been more enjoyable if the voices weren’t autotuned to smithereens and the scenes didn’t go on so long. The movie felt more like a passion project than an actual story.
Rating 3/5.
Family friendly rating: Mature
65+ f-words
Drug and alcohol use
Minor violence
No nudity
Author: Hannah Clove
Photos courtesy of Lionsgate
Editor: Brooklyn Beard
news@suunews.net