Nate At The Movies

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.

If you follow the Nate at the Movies website closely, you’d know that I actually intended to watch Power Ballad on Tuesday, but my stomach decided that wasn’t going to happen. Luckily, I’m on summer break, so pivoting to a new day and showtime was easy-peasy. I was excited for Power Ballad because of how much I adore Sing Street, and I figured that with Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas starring, this movie would have no trouble winning me over. Good news: it didn’t!

John Carney has never struggled with charm, and Power Ballad was absolutely oozing with it, from the dynamics between Rick and his family to every performance from The Bride & Groove (excellent wedding band name) and Danny Wilson. The movie didn’t rely on its humor, but was easily funny when it wanted to be (Rick and Sandy held it down). The story was also an entertaining and insightful one, as one would expect a John Carney movie to be, and I liked how Power Ballad felt like the other side of the Sing Street coin. The film looked at characters who fame had passed by, and instead of belittling them, it demonstrated the importance of finding and appreciating new dreams. I was also happy that the very important home video of Rick singing “How to Write a Song (Without You)” wasn’t found until the very end; predicating the last act on that footage would’ve been boring and subtracted from the themes Carney was trying to drive home.

I hate to say it again because comparing two movies in reviews is lame, but just like in Sing Street, the music of Power Ballad was outstanding. At points in the movie, I was frustrated how “How to Write a Song (Without You)”-centric this story and soundtrack were becoming, but the song was honestly great enough to warrant it. The covers of popular songs were so fun, too, especially “I Wish”. I would’ve liked more original songs—we got a couple, but they didn’t really get the spotlight—because they played “How to Write a Song (Without You)” maybe one or two too many times. I adored the ending, though, cutting the two performances and the home video footage together to really drive home every character’s fate and priorities.

Power Ballad wasn’t perfect—the story was messier and less action-packed than Sing Street (I know, comparison, sorry)—but it did everything I expected a John Carney movie to do. It charmed me to death, had me singing in my seat, and endeared me to both Nick Jonas and Paul Rudd’s fictional characters and real selves (though the latter wasn’t hard; I love both of those guys already). The summer is absolutely jam-packed with great movies, so Power Ballad likely won’t make a big splash at the box office, but hopefully it’ll find its cult audience like Sing Street did. The inventor of hopecore has struck again, and I want “How to Write a Song (Without You)” to be the song of the summer (though it’ll probably be one of these new and amazing Olivia Rodrigo songs). Oh, also, Havana Rose Liu needed to be in this movie way more; I love her!