Power Ballad
John Carney delivers a slam dunk with his hugely enjoyable and deeply affecting tale of musical betrayal.
Music to their ears: Nick Jonas and Paul Rudd.
Image courtesy of Lionsgate UK.
by JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
The ballad in question is written by Rick Power, a songwriter played with characteristic good-humoured vigour by Paul Rudd. But ballads don’t click with the larger public anymore, at least the demographic that consumes the current music scene on Spotify or in nightclubs. Hell, the new generation isn’t even interested in songs about falling in love – at least according to Rick’s 14-year-old daughter Aja (Beth Fallon). They’re interested in songs about revenge. And in its own way, Power Ballad is about revenge. But most of all it is about love.
The writer-director John Carney essentially recycles variations on a theme, making films packed with humour, joy and humanity featuring aspiring musicians trying to find their own voice in the world. With Power Ballad he stretches the theme to include two singers, both dedicated to their musical passion, but at different points in their careers. Rick, who is from Kansas City but has now been living in Ireland for fifteen years and has an Irish wife and daughter, has put his dreams on hold in order to live in a shoebox on the outskirts of Dublin to provide for his family. He has made some good mates who make up The Bride and Groove, a cover band that plays at weddings singing other people’s songs. Occasionally, Rick – the lead singer – forgets his place and will belt out a rock anthem he has written himself, invariably alienating the loved-up attendees and causing friction with his fellow musicians. “We’re not rock stars, Rick, we’re human juke boxes. Don’t forget that,” his drummer-cum-manager (Rory Keenan) reprimands him. But Rick Power still dreams big and there’s a lovely segue at the beginning of the film that transports us from the wedding venue to a packed arena somewhere entirely more glamorous.
Unusually, true to its title, Power Ballad is about one particular song, ‘How to Write a Song (Without You)’, a number that has a very personal resonance for our protagonist. At one wedding, a guest is prompted to join the band on stage to deliver one of his own hits, the latter, Danny Wilson (Nick Jonas), being the former member of a hugely successful boy band. Later that night, as Rick is taking the night air to enjoy a solitary spliff, he is invited back to Danny’s palatial hotel room where the two dudes talk music and while away the night indulging in more weed and some hard liquor while jamming and working on an old song Rick wrote aeons ago…
While sticking to a familiar template, John Carney – whose previous films have included Once, Begin Again, Sing Street and Flora and Son – introduces a few new twists along with his usual sympathetic characters, great music and incisive commentary on the worlds of pop and rock. The particularly strength of his latest film is the engaging presence of Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas as Rick and Danny whose respective devotion to their art form is irresistible. There are also winning turns from Marcella Plunkett as Rick’s wife Rachel, Beth Fallon as Aja and co-scenarist Peter McDonald as Rick’s best friend and band member Sandy (who’s still living with his mother and can play a mean riff on classic guitar). Yet even as Carney appears to be guiding us through tried and tested waters, he is also exploring an aspect of the music business that is all too familiar in the real world, summed up by Danny’s ruthless manager Mac Darling (Jack Reynor, from Sing Street and Flora and Son): “Where there’s a hit, there’s a writ.”
The result is a periodically hilarious, profoundly touching and consistently entertaining examination of songwriting, betrayal, marriage and, most significantly, fatherhood.
Cast: Paul Rudd, Nick Jonas, Peter McDonald, Marcella Plunkett, Havana Rose Liu, Jack Reynor, Rory Keenan, Keith McErlean, Beth Fallon, Sophie Vavasseur.
Dir John Carney, Pro Anthony Bregman, John Carney, Peter Cron, Rebecca O'Flanagan and Robert Walpole, Screenplay John Carney and Peter McDonald, Ph Yaron Orbach, Pro Des Anna Carney, Ed Stephen O’Connell, Music Gary Clark, Costumes Triona Lillis, Sound Michelle Fingleton.
30West/Screen Ireland/Likely Story/Distressed Films/Treasure Entertainment-Lionsgate.
98 mins. Ireland/USA. 2026. UK Rel: 29 May 2026. US Rel: 5 June 2026. Cert. 15.
