Rating 8/10
Irish writer-director John Carney has built a remarkable career by celebrating how artists find connection through a melody. From the Oscar-winning Once to Begin Again, Sing Street, and Flora and Son, Carney has always found fresh ways to tell stories about people whose lives are transformed by music. His latest continues that streak.
What amazes me is that Power Ballad has arrived with surprisingly little buzz. That’s a shame, because Carney has spent nearly two decades delivering some of the most uplifting musical dramas of the 21st century. His latest is another reminder. Power Ballad is an absolute gem.
Rick Power (Paul Rudd) is an American singer scraping by in Dublin as the frontman of a wedding band called The Bride and Groove. Years earlier, he had his own dreams of musical stardom, but the realities of life have pushed those ambitions into the background. At a castle wedding, Rick’s band crosses paths with Danny Wilson (Nick Jonas), a famous former boy-band star trying to reinvent himself as a solo artist. Danny joins them onstage, then later spends the night drinking, partying, and swapping tunes with Rick.
This late-night jam session is my favorite scene. During this interaction, Rick performs for Danny an original melody he wrote called “How to Write a Song (Without You).” The entire sequence is this bonding moment between musicians, with the collaborative process on full display. It’s warm, funny, and genuine. That makes the next development all the more surprising.
This fleeting connection eventually becomes a career-making opportunity for Danny and a source of frustration for Rick. Months later, Danny incorporates part of Rick’s composition into a new track that becomes a massive hit, though it is far from a direct copy. Danny adds a bridge, his own vocals, and a glossy production, transforming Rick’s idea into something new.
What Carney and co-writer Peter McDonald understand so well is that songwriting is rarely as clean as people imagine. Power Ballad digs into the messy gray area. Rick may have written the seed of the piece, but Danny’s voice, image, production team, and industry machinery are what turned it into a hit. That does not excuse Danny taking sole authorship, but it does make the conflict more interesting.
We, the audience, side with Rick because we know his contributions are essential. Yet Danny is not a hissable villain. He understands that Rick has a legitimate claim to the composition, but he lets his amoral manager Mac (Jack Reynor) do the talking for him. The film contains an interesting commentary on what exactly turns a song into a hit. Is it the original idea? The melody? The performance? The production?
The thing is, Rick has no documented proof that he wrote it. Even his wife Rachel (Marcella Plunkett) and daughter Aja (Beth Fallon) are unable to confirm whether they ever heard the tune before. Desperate to receive credit, he lets the situation eat away at him and begin affecting his home life. I do think his family could have been more supportive in these moments. Nevertheless, their skepticism pushes Rick over the brink and ultimately leads him to persuade his bandmate, Sandy (Peter McDonald ), to accompany him to Los Angeles to confront Danny.
Carney’s work understands that a composition is more than notes and lyrics on a page. It is interpretation, arrangement, production, timing, and the right voice carrying it into the world. Rick deserves authorship of the song, but the screenplay is nuanced enough to recognize that composing a piece and turning it into a hit are two very different things. This is not just a story about theft, but about how easily essential contributions can disappear once art becomes commerce. That is what gives the movie its sting and makes Power Ballad so compelling.
06-09-26