Power Ballad (2026) Lionsgate/Comedy-Drama RT: 98 minutes Rated R (language throughout, some drug use) Director: John Carney Screenplay: John Carney and Peter McDonald Music: John Carney and Gary Clark Cinematography: Yaron Orbach Release date: May 29, 2026 (US, limited)/June 5, 2026 (US, wide) Cast: Paul Rudd, Nick Jonas, Peter McDonald, Marcella Plunkett, Beth Fallon, Jack Reynor, Havana Rose Liu, Rory Keenan, Paul Reid, Keith McErlean, Emma Rose Creaner, Sophie Vavasseur.
Rating: ** ½
I was looking forward to Power Ballad not because of either of the two leads but for the guy directing them. That would be John Carney who helmed two of the best films of the 2010s, Begin Again (2014) and Sing Street (2016). I was hoping he’d pull off a hat trick with Power Ballad. Sadly, he does not. It’s not a bad movie by any means; it’s just a disappointing one.
I find myself in something of a quandary. In order to tell you why I don’t love Power Ballad, I’ll have to drop a spoiler. Well, it might be a spoiler. Either way, I’ll put up this SPOILER ALERT as a courtesy to my readers who purposely avoid such things. Now’s your chance to bail and skip to the next paragraph. Is it safe to proceed? Good. Power Ballad is a decent enough movie save for this one thing concerning Nick Jonas’ character, a pop singer looking to make it as a solo artist after his old boy band split up. To that end, he pulls a dick move on Rudd’s character. It’s bad, but that’s not what bothers me. What gets to me is NJ stays a dick throughout. He never takes accountability for what he did. There’s no redemption on his character’s part. Would it have killed him to make things right? It makes Power Ballad a less satisfying experience.
Okay, it’s safe to read on now. Let me fill in a few plot details. Rick Power (Rudd, Death of a Unicorn), an American musician living in Dublin, fronts a wedding band called The Bride and Groove. While playing a gig at a castle weeding, they’re joined on stage by pop singer Danny Wilson (Jonas, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle) for one number. He’s been struggling to write a hit song since he and his old bandmates went their separate ways.
After the wedding, Danny invites Rick back to his room where they jam. Rick plays Danny a song that he wrote. Six months later, Rick finds out that Danny released the song as his own. It becomes a number one hit and makes him a superstar again. Rick gets none of the credit. In addition, nobody believes it’s his song, not even his own wife (Plunkett, Flora and Son) and teen daughter (Fallon, Louise Lives Large). It takes its toll on Rick. He finally decides to go to L.A. and confront Danny himself.
Carney is definitely in his wheelhouse with Power Ballad. A musician himself (he was the bassist for the Irish rock band The Frames from 1991-93), he knows a lot about the industry and the cruel, cutthroat nature of it. He understands the people who live in that world, people like Danny’s manager Mac (Reynor, Sing Street), a guy who not only encourages his client to do the wrong thing, he also threatens Rick with all sorts of legal action if he doesn’t keep his mouth shut. In many ways, he’s a bigger dick than Danny.
Carney also sees the beauty of music and the power of it. It shows in his films. The musical performances in Power Ballad are quite good whether it’s Danny playing to large crowds of screaming fans or Rick doing covers with his mates at weddings. The song at the center of the story, a power ballad called “How to Write a Song (Without You)”, is powerful because it has special meaning for Rick. This is one of the film’s best aspects.
The two leads deliver good performances. Rudd deftly conveys the frustration and anger of a man wronged by an untouchable celebrity. There’s a layer of sadness beneath it. He gave up a career in music to get married and raise a family. He loves them, but has regrets about not living his dream. He balances all of it very well. Jonas’ character is extremely unlikable. Once he achieves stardom, he turns into a dick. Among other things, he dumps the girlfriend (Liu, Tuner) who stood by him while he struggled to write a hit song. I really didn’t like the guy. However, Jonas plays the role in such a way that you understand why he did what he did. He caved in to the intense pressure of the industry to create songs that will generate downloads. It doesn’t excuse what he did to Rick; it just makes it easier to understand why.
I wish Rick’s family had a bigger role in the story. I liked their dynamic very much. Their characters deserve to be more than just recipients of the fallout resulting from the theft of Rick’s intellectual policy. Liu is given even less to do which is a bloody shame. She showed her stuff to great effect in the recent crime drama Tuner. We know what she’s capable of. She’s unfairly underused here. On the other hand, co-writer Peter McDonald (The Batman) is a riot as Rick best friend and bandmate Sandy. He joins him on his trip to L.A. where he proves to be a not-so-valuable asset.
Like I said, I don’t think Power Ballad is a bad movie. It’s actually pretty good. It misses greatness for the very reason I expressed earlier. I just wish it would have ended a little differently, but I get why it doesn’t. There are no completely happy endings in real life or reel life. Like the French say, c’est la vie.
