Power Ballad (2026)
Writer/director John Carney burst onto the indie scene with Once in 2007, starting a career of making gentle, humanist comedies centered on music. His latest effort, Power Ballad, will likely charm audiences.
Paul Rudd plays Rick, an American musician who moved to Ireland after falling in love with an Irishwoman (Marcella Plunkett). They have a teen daughter (Beth Fallon), and Rick makes a modest living as the lead singer of a wedding band ("human jukeboxes"). Rick still has dreams of people liking his original songs, but when he plays them, it clears the dance floor. He's at a mid-life crisis point where he's wondering if this is all he'll ever be.
Danny (Nick Jonas), a former boy band member with a stalled career, is a guest at a wedding Rick works. After the wedding, the two have an impromptu drunken/stoned jam session. Rick plays a song he's been working on with a great chorus that he's unsure how to finish.
Months later, Danny has taken the song, added a bridge, and it is a massive hit. However, he doesn't share writing credit with Rick, who is furious at the loss of potentially life-changing money and recognition.
Rick's justifiably angry, but his bitterness soon causes friction with his family and his bandmates, none of whom can specifically remember him singing that song to them since he's endlessly trying out new material on them. Danny does his best to avoid Rick's queries, leaving them to his cutthroat manager (the funny Jack Reynor) to deal with. Danny rationalizes it by pointing out he finished the song for Rick and his charisma is what made the song a hit.
Power
Ballad is
both funny and moving. It understands Rick's bitterness over Danny's actions
but also emphasizes that creation is important for its own sake. If you're
looking for a break from the deluge of IP material and horror films in
theaters, give Power Ballad a chance.
