Quick synopsis: Wedding singer Rick Power (Paul Rudd) strikes up an unlikely friendship with singer Danny Wilson, who responds to Rick’s kindness by stealing one of his songs.

This is a difficult review to write. Not because I’m uncertain how I felt about the film. But because I used a bunch of music puns in my review of Tuner. So what am I supposed to do now? Put effort in? But I don’t wanna!

That’s unfair. Truthfully, outside of “music is a thing”, there are almost no similarities between Power Ballad and Tuner. Tuner is built around the story; Power Ballad is built around the people. From the trailer/plot synopsis, you may assume there’s more to it, that there’s no way to stretch that concept out to 90 minutes, and there must be a hidden twist. There’s not. The story really is that simple. Even the ending will be fairly obvious to anybody who is paying attention. I know someone who regularly falls asleep during films, and even she messaged me to say she guessed the ending (not during the film, she’s tired, not rude). The only thing that surprised me was how Irish the film was. Now I know it was directed by John Carney, which makes sense. But everything in the trailer made it look like it was going to be an American-focused story. Carney’s previous movies include:

• Once (2007). Two musicians fall in love with each other (won the Academy Award for Best Original Song)
• Begin Again (2013). A singer-songwriter collaborates with a record company executive to release an album
• Sing Street (2013). A guy forms a band to impress a girl.
• Flora and Son (2023), A woman learns guitar.

Yes, those are gross oversimplifications of those movies. But it demonstrates my point: he’s found a niche (music-based dramatic comedy), and he’s stuck to it. Fair play to him, he’s really good at it, and he’s great at music. The song in Power Ballad genuinely feels like the kind of song that would blow up. I kind of wish I could have seen more of Danny’s music. It’s hard to gauge how different it is from the rest of his music, as we don’t have that much to compare him to. Power Ballad also feels slightly inconsistent regarding how famous he is. Is he someone the gossip magazines and bloggers constantly talk about, or is he forgotten? It seems to be the first one, but there are too many moments which treat it as the second one. I’d also have liked to have seen more of Rick’s music career. There aren’t enough details about his former band and bandmates. Do they dislike him for jeopardising their career? Did the fact that Rick left cause a power imbalance which led to the destruction of the band? Are they even still alive? This kind of world-building would have really helped flesh out the narrative, and would have meant they could have deleted some of the moments where it feels like the wheels are spinning, but nothing is moving forward.

That paragraph may make it seem like this is a negative review. But I actually really liked Power Ballad. It’s very sweet. There are moments of pure joy and loveliness. The moment where Danny joins the wedding band on stage is incredibly charming; the friendship between Rick and Danny that comes from this moment is key to Power Ballad working. Mainly because it means the betrayal hits harder than it would otherwise. Danny’s character is interesting. On the surface, he’s confident, but the longer the film goes on, the more the real him steps forward: he’s a coward; that’s what drives his choices. Yes, he makes some very stupid choices, but they are all consistent with his character. And you can just see his entire sense of self deflate when Danny tells him the background of the song. Nick Jonas is perfectly cast, adding a bit of metaness to the whole thing. Paul Rudd goes more angry and insane than he normally does, and he does it well.

In summary, nowhere near the best film of the year, but still absolutely delightful and well worth a watch. Although the main character’s full name being “Rick Power” is kinda stupid.