Power Ballad Parent Guide

Rick Power (Paul Rudd), an American expat in Dublin, has made himself at home – Irish wife, Irish daughter, Irish house, and a gig as the lead singer in a wedding band. It pays the bills, but Rick wishes sometimes he could perform some of the music he writes, instead of the human-jukebox routine of wedding playlists. A chance encounter with former boy-band heartthrob Danny Wilson (Nick Jonas) leads to a drunken all-night jam session, during which Rick helps Danny with some of his music, and then plays Danny a song he’s been trying to finish for 15 years, “How to Write a Song (Without You)”. Danny gives him some tips, the two part as friends, and Rick goes back to playing weddings. 

Months later, wandering around the mall, Rick hears his own song playing – Danny Wilson’s hot new single, “How to Write a Song (Without You)”. Without any evidence that he wrote the song in the first place, Rick can’t launch a lawsuit, so he’s just going to have to find a way to get in touch with Danny personally. He seemed like a nice kid, surely a lighthearted conversation will sort everything out – right?

The film is, despite my dim expectations of comedies these days, funny, with lighthearted goofiness plastering over the deeper emotional story – I wouldn’t say it’s sophisticated, but that’s not the point. The real problem here, as with other music-based films, is that there’s typically an original song that’s inevitably played half a dozen times over the course of the film, and it’s rarely a song I wanted to listen to once. There’s nothing wrong with the movie’s central tune; it’s just not my genre, so the repetition is less than endearing. Like the average wedding parties, I prefer the soundtrack when it’s playing 70s-80s rock hits. 

Parents are going to prefer a different movie entirely, as this one features near constant drinking and marijuana use, along with a whopping 77 f-bombs inside of 98 minutes. That the story focuses on the treacherous allure of celebrity and the importance of honesty and family is unlikely to soften those particular blows for family viewers. Adults, however, especially those with a bent for soft-pop ballads, are likely to have a fun time with the movie’s goofy vibe and solid chemistry between Rudd and Jonas.