Film Review – Power Ballad

John Carney loves music. The director has been pursuing the celebration, liberation, and communication of music for quite some time now, exploring the strange power of songwriting in features such as “Once,” “Begin Again,” “Sing Street,” and “Flora and Son,” and he returns to familiar ground with “Power Ballad,” also co-scripting the picture with Peter McDonald. Instead of being delicate with the magic of musical alchemy, Carney gets a little more combative with his latest endeavor, following the struggles of a wedding singer who knows his song has been stolen by a pop star, only he can’t prove it. It has the makings of a thriller, but Carney doesn’t work that way, electing to return to easygoing personalities and battles of the heart, throwing in an earworm tune for good measure. “Power Ballad” intends to be a crowd-pleaser, and it has its moments, but it’s also a bit unsteady in the editorial department, emerging a bit wobbly when Carney is shooting for a big, juicy charmer. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com