Power Ballad is the latest movie from director/writer John Carney. Carney has built a solid filmography over the years, with his stories heavily revolving around music.
With Power Ballad, Carney explores two different sides of the music world. One involving a singer who had to give up his dreams for his family, and the other living out his dreams but trying to stay relevant.
The story here follows Rick (Paul Rudd), a washed-up wedding singer who tried to make it big as a rocker but had to put his dreams aside when he met his wife and they had a daughter together.
When his band, The Bride and Groove, is hired for a gig at a prestigious venue, a world-famous boy band singer named Danny Wilson (Nick Jonas) makes an appearance as he is the best friend of the groom.
While performing, the band plays a song with Danny that really gets the party going. He and Rick hit it off, and they hang out for a bit after the reception.
After some drinks, Danny lets Rick hear some of the music he has been working on for his upcoming album. Rick offers some thoughts as the guys bond over their love of music.
Rick plays a song for Danny that he has been writing and singing for years, but has never been able to put the finishing touches on it. Danny loves the song and applauds Rick for writing such a great piece.
The next day, the guys go their separate ways, but Rick is blown away by how great a guy Danny turns out to be and hopes that they may collaborate more in the future.
Jump ahead six months, and Rick finds out that Danny has a new hit song. It just happens to be the song that Rick played for him, and now Rick is devastated as he has no credit to his name for the song. This causes Rick to set out to reclaim the recognition that he deserves for originally writing the song.
There is quite a lot to enjoy in Power Ballad. John Carney has a certain style that he likes, and he isn’t shy about revisiting it once again.
The way he incorporates music into the storyline almost makes the music a secondary character. He is passionate about music, and that comes across not only in the storyline but in the characters, too.
The musical performances here are fantastic. While most of the songs featured are covers, there are a couple of original songs that leave a lasting impression.
Every song is either performed by Nick Jonas or Paul Rudd, and both do a great job. Jonas obviously has been a singer for most of his career, so it comes naturally to him.
Rudd is the bigger surprise as he does a great job in his musical performances, providing a talent that most audiences never knew about him.
As far as the performances go, this movie would not work at all if it weren’t for Paul Rudd. Typically, Rudd is cast for his comedic chops, but here he gets to show off more of his range. He does an excellent job in the more dramatic scenes while still being as charming as ever.
Nick Jonas gives one of the better performances in his career. He is always fine in his roles, but here he gets to stretch out his acting talent more, and he has good chemistry with Paul Rudd.
The rest of the cast works well too, with good performances also coming from Peter McDonald, Marcella Plunkett, and Jack Reynor.
Throughout the runtime, there are some things that feel like they could be more fleshed out. This is a rare instance where having a shorter runtime hurts the movie a little.
Clocking in at just over an hour and a half, the movie could use maybe another fifteen minutes or so to flesh out more of the side characters and fill in a few gaps in the storyline.
In the end, Power Ballad is an entertaining watch. The musical performances are the highlight, and the film features one of the best performances by Paul Rudd.
Power Ballad is currently playing in theaters.
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Jake Peffer
Jake Peffer is a film critic born and raised just outside of Atlanta. Since the age of 10, Jake has had a strong passion for film and has been writing and discussing films for over 15 years. He runs his own site, Jake's Cinema Room, and has written for other outlets including Flickering Myth, We Live Entertainment and BRWC. Since 2012, Jake has been a member of the Georgia Film Critics Association. He has also been a part of the Atlanta Film Critics Circle since 2023.