Inspiration comes from a variety of places, and it’s not always possible to pinpoint the exact origin of or road to the creation of a work of art. Legally speaking, however, authorship means everything, which is why plagiarism lawsuits present themselves when someone has profited from an idea that another claims isn’t actually their own. Filmmaker John Carney returns with his latest comedy-drama set to music, featuring two people who couldn’t be at more different places in their careers whose meeting produces something that turns into a real winner but leaves one of them behind in the path to its meteoric success.
Rick (Paul Rudd) lives in Ireland with his wife Rachel (Marcella Plunkett) and daughter Amanda (Sophie Vavasseur). The promising music career he once had has now turned into a role as the lead singer for Bride & Groove, a wedding band. When former boy band member and superstar Danny Wilson (Nick Jonas) is invited up by one groom to play a song with the group, it leads to an incredible night of musical collaboration between Rick and Danny, who take to each other and part ways warmly. When Rick hears familiar lyrics playing on the loudspeakers at a mall months later, he realizes that Danny has taken something they started together and turned it into his own, without offering his no-name writing partner any credit, of course.
Fans of Carney know that he loves to tell stories in musical spaces, starting with his Oscar-winning breakout Once (which gets a fun nod in this film), followed by Begin Again, Sing Street, and Flora and Son. This is just his latest chapter, delivering more of what he does best, which is simple, wonderful music and a surrounding story filled with humor but punctuated by tender and resonant moments that interrogate notions of fame and community. Rick is not at his best when he first meets Danny, and the inspiration and positivity he takes from their time together only makes him more susceptible to heartbreak when he sees that what he’s written does in fact have an audience, only no one knows that he’s behind it.
After meeting Danny, Rick remarks that he’s a good kid, and the feeling appears to be mutual. Rather than a cut-and-dry case of theft or plagiarism, this film exists in a much grayer area, with Danny not keen to admit Rick’s role in the writing process to his pushy manager Mac (Jack Reynor), instead claiming he doesn’t remember much and allowing Mac to handle it as he sees fit. Getting the credit, or the money he really needs, isn’t as important to Rick as the fact that no one believes him, making him doubt not only his talent but his sanity. It’s not an easy road back to a place of stability, but these characters aren’t black-and-white and instead each contribute to their own setbacks and successes.
Rudd is always charming, and it’s fun to see him play someone whose charm has, to a degree, worn off, making him much more endearing to the audience than he is to anyone else in the film. Jonas fits the bill for this part and delivers commendably, and the shared scenes between these two leads are among the film’s best. Mention must also be made of Peter McDonald, who cowrote the script with Carney and hilariously plays Sandy, one of Rick’s bandmates who is the only one to stick by his side. Music drives this film, as it always does with Carney, but it also has a fun comedic spark, making it among the filmmaker’s lighter films but one that proves just as dependably enjoyable as any from his catalog.
Movie Rating: 8/10
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