Artistic creativity is a very fickle thing. Sometimes it flows so naturally from the heart and mind. Other times, it is a painful, arduous process guaranteed to frustrate and confound the artist. And with fame and success, the creative process often comes with greater pressures and challenges. These are the concepts and themes examined in John Carney’s newest film, Power Ballad. Carney, who is not only a filmmaker but also a musician, knows these struggles well and does an exceptional job presenting them and the emotions they evoke.
In Carney’s movie, Paul Rudd stars as Rick Power, a wedding singer. Though he is a singer-songwriter, Rick has never achieved fame or great success as an artist. Instead, he has had to settle for heading a band that performs cover tunes at weddings, parties, and special events. As fate would have it, Rick and his band perform at a wedding reception where one of the guests is a famous, former boy band singer, Danny Wilson (Nick Jonas). As the festivities die down, Rick finds himself bonding with Danny over drinks, weed, and guitars, and the two begin an overnight jam session.
Rick gets to share one of his original songs with Danny. He is proud of it. Danny soon finds the song infectious and sees its hit potential. Wanting to make a splash with his solo career, Danny records the song as his own. After the song is released, Rick soon discovers his very personal song has been stolen.
Much like Carney’s previous films (Begin Again, Sing Street, Flora and Son), I absolutely adored Power Ballad. Carney just has a lovely talent for writing and developing lovably charming, heartfelt movies that warm hearts worldwide. His love of music is evident again here, as this is another Carney movie where music plays a major role. Now, granted, there is a certain amount of predictability in this particular story, but both Carney and his co-writer, Peter McDonald, manage to spin it in compelling, riveting ways.
The amiable and charismatic Paul Rudd is perfectly cast as Rick Power, a wedding singer passionate about music who is also a loving and caring husband and father. Nick Jonas is initially likable but becomes appropriately hateful as Danny Wilson, a music star seeking to distance himself from his boy-band past. Jonas gives a great performance, and both he and the filmmakers develop Danny into a fascinating character that can be hateful, but not in a two-dimensional villain sort of way. Power Ballad also features lovely work by Havana Rose-Liu, Peter McDonald, Marcella Plunkett, Sophie Vavasseur, and Beth Fallon.
Power Ballad was one of my favorite movies at this year’s SXSW. The general public won’t have to wait long to enjoy it, too. Power Ballad opens in theaters on June 5. It’s a lovable crowd-pleaser you should not miss.