Power Ballad

Director: John Carney

Rick Power (Paul Rudd) leads a wedding cover band, The Bride and Groove. When performing at one particualry grand wedding one of the guests is former boy band singer Danny Wilson (Nick Jonas), currently with a stuttering solo career. Asked to perform alongside Power’s band, the two hit it off which leads to a meet up in Wilson’s room for an impromptu drinks and jam session. Six months later Rick here’s the song that has launched Danny back onto the road to stardom, the problem, he’s taken one of Rick’s unfinished songs, and turned it into a global hit. Rick frustrated, angry, and with no proof he ever wrote the song, sets off on a revenge mission, to confront Danny, to get credit for his song and the rewards he deserves from it. It’s a mission that drags him across the world, but also puts at risk his relationship with his wife (Marcella Plunkett) and daughter (Beth Fallon).

Power Ballad is a bit of an odd film, sold as a comedy, it’s actually rather sweet and melancholic. You get and exploration in Rick and Danny, of men who have to come to terms with their limitations, the “what might have beens” and ultimately what is important in life. None of these are criticisms, but they leave you with the impression that the film never quite is 100% sure of what it is trying to be.

There is a lot to like. The two leads are believable. Rudd as the downtrodden artist who never quite reached his dream, and Jonas, maybe not surprisingly, as the former boy band star. The supporting cast is good, especially Beth Fallon as Power’s daughter, who manages to love and be embarrassed by her father equally. There’s a nice turn from Jack Reynor as Wilson’s “slimy” manager and Peter McDonald as Rick’s slightly unstable bandmate, Sandy.

But it also feels a little forgettable, even if it does come with some depth, exploring what’s important and the fine line between music stardom and music anonymity,

Power Ballad even if it will not sit long in the memory is enjoyable while it’s there and Rick and Danny’s song, may well stick with you longer than you want!