★★★☆☆
Power Ballad sees intellectual property theft that will make your head explode and your belly jiggle.
Cat burglaries and heists are always great fodder for the crime thriller. We cheered on Sean Connery when he had to straddle laser beams to reach treasure in Entrapment, and again with Michael Caine planning the heist in The Italian Job. As long as no one gets hurt, it’s good clean fun. The wealthy can afford one less bauble, surely.
So what is it about the theft of intellectual property that makes our minds explode?
This is the problem faced by Rick Power (Paul Rudd) in John Carney’s Power Ballad. One-time rocker, Rick, is the lead singer/guitarist in an okay wedding band in Dublin. The motley crew schlep around the country in a minivan called Bride & Groove, play ho-hum love songs in tawdry wedding venues to often ‘tired and emotional’ guests.
Rick’s a bit of a dreamer – watch out for this – and in the opening scene fantasises that the crowd grows bigger and he’s playing Madison Square Garden, where he rightly belongs. If only he’d had one big song to launch his career.
Enter wedding guest, Danny Wilson (Nick Jonas), looking for all the world like a young Buddy Franklin. Danny has his own music frustrations. He’s left a famous boy band but can’t crack the big time as a solo artist. If only he had one big song…
A late-night jamming session sees the two musos ‘throwing paprika’ on each other’s songs. (This is a good thing.) Rick breaks out a ballad he’d written long ago but never recorded. Danny likes it. A lot. Back in LA, he releases the song as his own, and it shoots up the charts.
Now here’s a coincidence. Igor Plischke’s The Talented Mr F, part of the recent German Film Festival, is based on a similar premise – a young American steals a short film made by two German students and reaps the rewards. What is it with these naughty Americans?
Rick and mate Sandy (Peter McDonald), like the German students, hightail it to LA to confront the thief and get him to confess. The difference is that Rick hasn’t a skerrick of proof that he was the original creator of his song. Ouch.
While Carney keeps the story bouncing along, the theme of intellectual property theft gives pause. As Rick demonstrates, ‘the song’ – which almost becomes a character in its own right – is part of his identity and promises life-changing prospects for him and his family. We’re reminded that the beauty of the song – any song – is its infinite meanings for different people.
For Rick’s daughter Aja (Beth Fallon), it’s music your mum would listen to. For Danny’s girlfriend (Havana Rose Liu), it’s the most romantic thing she’s ever heard. No wonder your head explodes when your ‘baby’ is stolen.
Power Ballad shines an interesting light on the music industry, though you get the impression that Carney just wants to scratch the surface. The reality is no doubt harsher, as we’ve seen in films like Whiplash and Inside Llewyn Davis.
Perhaps more intriguing is the evolution of a song, best displayed when Rick and Danny test out tunes, pluck random chords, ponder over bridges and verses. Baby, it don’t come easy.
Keeping the trajectories of the two protagonists side by side is a neat device and contrasts their attitudes to truth, authenticity, and success. These aren’t malicious characters. They’re just two blokes who sometimes make bad decisions. Note Danny’s change of costume – from glitzy silver jacket to ordinary dark top – when he seems on the point of confessing all to his adoring audience.
The strength of the film is its light approach. For better or worse, the wedding scenes – why are traditional wedding celebrations so wonderfully toe-curling? – provide excellent relief from Rick and Danny’s private dramas. The same goes for the after-party in LA, the perfect setting for Sandy to dial up the laughs before the big reveal.
Just when you think a status quo has been reached, there’s a twist at the end. It’s a beauty and confirms Power Ballad as a feel-good movie to remember.
Power Ballad opens in cinemas nationally from Thursday 28 May 2026.
Website: https://www.madman.com.au/power-ballad/
Socials: https://www.instagram.com/powerballadfilm/
Photos courtesy Madman Entertainment.
Watch the trailer here:
Film details:
Title: Power Ballad
Director: John Carney
Cast: Paul Rudd, Nick Jonas, Havana Rose Liu, Jack Reynor
Country of Origin: USA, Ireland
Duration: 98 mins
Rating: CTC
