Courtney Howard // Film Critic
POWER BALLAD
Rated R, 1 hour and 38 minutes
Directed by: John Carney
Starring: Paul Rudd, Nick Jonas, Jack Reynor, Marcella Plunkett, Beth Fallon, Peter MacDonald, Paul Reid, Havana Rose Liu
Throughout filmmaker John Carney career, he’s struck the right chords capturing perfectly composed snapshots of musicians and musicianship in films like ONCE, BEGIN AGAIN and SING STREET. The dedication, struggle and intense craftsmanship of songs that touch listeners’ hearts and souls is depicted with thoughtful care. Even the semi-flawed FLORA AND SON portrayed the textured, lived-in details of scrappy characters discovering their self-worth and powerful voices through music. He intrinsically knows it’s all about hitting the right notes, combining sincerity, sweetness and poignancy.
Yet after watching POWER BALLAD, audiences might wonder where the filmmaker’s own voice, smarts and passion for genuinely good storytelling went. The dramedy, centered on two desperate singer-songwriters in search of a hit to catapult them back into pop superstardom, frustratingly hits false note after false note, tanking its intriguing premise and our good graces. Rather than deal with complex, complicated human emotions in a logically sound manner, Carney, along with writer-co-star Peter MacDonald, delivers a poorly conceptualized number.
Middle-aged musician Rick Power (Paul Rudd) had a chart-topping song in the 90s, but has since faded into semi-obscurity in Ireland as the lead singer of wedding-themed cover band The Bride and Groove. The sensitive rock song that brought him overseas and into the arms of his lovely, long-suffering wife Rachel (Marcella Plunkett) now plays like a forgotten memory and a dud on the dance floor during his current gigs. His band mates are at odds about the tune, with his best friend Sandy (Peter McDonald) encouraging his nostalgia and Bernie (Paul Reid) wanting him to move on. Rick’s happy, but still refusing to let go of the elusive dream of rock stardom, yearning to sell out arenas and inspire fans once again.
Ex-boy band superstar Danny Wilson (Nick Jonas) is looking for a comeback too. His record label and manager Mac (Jack Reynor) is demanding a new single from him, lest he risk career obsolescence at the young age of 27. He’s traveled to Ireland for a friend’s wedding, but is using his time and unlimited resources to record tracks before returning to Los Angeles. The two musicians meet-cute on the ballroom dais and share in a night of friendly musical connection, helping each other work through stubborn lyrics and trading melodies in fits of creativity. However, their would-be-bromance turns ugly when Danny lies to the world, claiming total ownership over a ditty Rick played for him that night. And when the song inevitably becomes a massive sensation, Danny’s on top of the world and Rick is feeling it crashing down on him.
We’ve all seen films before where a protagonist’s small lie spirals out of control and they’re forced to fess up in the 3rd act, typically at a major public event, then learn a sound lesson and all is forgiven. It’s a major foundational trope of many personal growth-themed comedies (THE SECRET OF MY SUCCESS, DON’T TELL MOM THE BABYSITTER’S DEAD and PICTURE PERFECT are a few off the top of my head). While it’s appreciated that Carney and MacDonald don’t go that route, their preferred road less travelled is covered with potholes.
The first 15 minutes are fairly charming. This is where Carney’s strong suits sing, setting up the lead characters’ compelling internal and external stakes, as well as showcasing the fascinating creative artistry of song-making and pop music myth-making. Yet once Danny fibs, using the song as a way to impress his girlfriend-du-jour Marcia (Havana Rose Liu, who earns about 8 minutes of screen time and then vanishes) and his gruff manager soon thereafter, there’s no walking back from that betrayal. The once rootable character becomes instantly irredeemable in that moment (when he could’ve easily rectified the problem). This causes irreparable damage to Danny despite the filmmakers desperately trying to exploit empathy towards him during the remainder of the run time.
Rather than deliver any nuanced sense of multitudes, the filmmakers lay down defined lines: Danny is now a villainous antagonist and Rick is the saintly hero we’re rooting to see win. So when we get to the climactic showdown between the pair and it doesn’t lead to Danny confessing his wrongdoing either in public at a concert or privately to Rick, it feels like an absolute cop out by the filmmakers, denying the audience a satisfying conclusion. A half-assed, insincere apology doesn’t count to us (the most important factor here), despite Rick’s insistence that it does. Instead, they favor a treacly, rushed resolution involving Rick’s 14-year-old daughter Aja (Beth Fallon), the family computer and Rick with a wad of cash.
Listen, Rick’s not great either. He shouldn’t have shared his hopeful hit with a veritable stranger. That said, we can at least understand why he’d make that call in the moment. Whether he was drunk or sober, it’s at least excusable and logical that he’d overshare. There might be an unspoken code of ethics between artists during jam sessions. Danny’s guilt over betraying Rick is all-too-brief and completely unearned since we saw nothing to motivate that action, neither when he asks Mac on his private jet if they should just pay Rick go away, nor while on stage at the Forum. There’s nothing that changes within or outside of Danny at any point for him to consider fessing up.
If it’s not enough the narrative disappoints, leads Rudd and Jonas also underwhelm. Their work remains nothing we haven’t seen them do better elsewhere. In terms of supporting performances, the women inhabiting these men’s world run away with the show. Plunkett makes a meal out of her limited material. There’s a beauty to her buoyant spirit. Fallon is a magnetic presence. There’s a natural ease to her on-screen charisma that’s funny, endearing and unspoiled. It’s a shame Liu doesn’t stick around longer, as she single-handedly carries pivotal moments as the unwitting catalyst to the betrayal.
Grade: D+
POWER BALLAD will release in theaters on May 29.
