Power Ballad (2026)
Directed by: John Carney
Premise: Rick (Paul Rudd) is a washed-up middle-aged musician working in a wedding band. He has a late-night jam session with a former boy band star (Nick Jonas). The younger musician steals one of Rick’s songs and it becomes a hit.
What Works: Filmmaker John Carney has specialized in making movies about bands including Once, Begin Again, and Sing Street. What has distinguished Carney’s films, aside from their Irish setting, has been the honesty about the poetry and peril of being a musician. His films consistently have an economic angle, finding drama in the financial precarity that characterizes so many musicians’ lives. Power Ballad features two characters on either end of that experience. Rick is scraping by, having given up on dreams of superstardom to raise his family, whereas former boy band star Danny is on the cusp of losing his Hollywood lifestyle unless he can produce a hit. The two men cross paths and Danny steals one of Rick’s songs which becomes a phenomenon. Power Ballad is fun but it has something serious on its mind. The success of the song sends Rick into a tailspin of bitterness and Danny’s lie eats at his conscience. Power Ballad dramatizes middle aged angst and how artists have to learn to live with a sense of incompleteness and disappointment. This comes to an impressive climax as Rick finally confronts Danny and both Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas do an impressive job. Also notable are Peter McDonald as Rick’s bandmate and Jack Reynor as Danny’s producer. McDonald contributes a lot of humor and Reynor is more than just a sleazy corporate man.
What Doesn’t: The characterization of the female characters is lacking. Rick becomes increasingly irascible, causing friction with his wife and teenage daughter, and their forgiveness does not come with any real contrition on his part. It’s established that Danny has a serious girlfriend played by Havana Rose Liu but she’s unceremoniously discarded from the story. The sound editing and mixing of the musical sequences are noticeably poor. The songs sound looped. They don’t feel like they are coming out of the mouth of the performers on stage and the sync of sound and image is sometimes off. The strongest element of Power Ballad is the way the filmmakers resist going Hollywood. They take an honest and unglamorous look at the life of a musician. However, the very end of Power Ballad betrays that tone. It’s a disappointing but ultimately minor misstep.
Bottom Line: Power Ballad mixes good humor with serious drama. It’s a fun movie with a mature take on middle age, fame, and musicianship. It’s a good film that would be great if not for some technical flaws.
Episode: #1103 (June 14, 2026)