Power Ballad Is Going to Be the Miracle Movie of the Summer

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Ever imagined Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas singing Stevie Wonder together, then getting into a silly jacuzzi brawl and wrecking a perfectly nice garden in a hilariously bad wrestling match – a bit like the fight between Hugh Grant and Colin Firth in Bridget Jones’s Diary? If that sounds appealing, the movie just premiered at SXSW.

I was completely swept away by John Carney’s new film, Power Ballad! Seeing the incredible chemistry between the Gen-X legend and his millennial co-star was a real treat. Honestly, it’s been the highlight of the festival so far – the audience was roaring with laughter, there were tears, and everyone was cheering. And the best part? Not a single person left before the Q&A! It’s definitely a movie that’s going to connect with a lot of people when Lionsgate releases it on June 5th.

The movie mainly focuses on two characters: Rick (played by Paul Rudd), an American who fronts a wedding band in Dublin and once abandoned his rock star dreams for family, and Danny (played by Jonas), a former boy band sensation struggling to succeed as a solo artist. Their paths cross when Danny spontaneously joins Rick’s band onstage at a wedding held at a beautiful Irish estate.

Jonas shared that when he heard about a script John was writing – a story about a wedding singer and a former boy-band member figuring out his life as a solo artist – he immediately loved the idea. He said this while playfully acknowledging the humorous connection to his own career, which got a big laugh from the audience.

Rudd, a talented singer and guitarist, explained he was drawn to the project because of his personal connection to music and because his daughter is around the same age as the character Rick’s daughter in the film. He related to Rick’s story as a man with a passion and a desire for self-expression who repeatedly faces setbacks. Both Rudd and Jonas also shared that they’ve long admired Carney’s work and were eager to collaborate with him.

The song title, “Power Ballad,” is a witty double entendre. Two musicians connect during a late-night songwriting session, fueled by drinks and shared enthusiasm, where they exchange dreams and musical ideas. As the night winds down and they become more comfortable, Rick performs a chorus he’s always struggled to complete – a heartfelt expression of the fear of losing someone he loves, singing, “I never want to find out / How to write a song without you.” Danny is deeply touched and impulsively asks the wedding planner to gift Rick a valuable guitar.

Six months later, Rick was at the mall when he heard the song he’d played for Danny – “How to Write a Song Without You” – playing loudly over the speakers.

Danny’s career is soaring – he’s got a chart-topping hit, is traveling by private jet, and is embarking on a world tour. Meanwhile, Rick’s life is crumbling because he feels cheated out of credit for the song, but can’t prove it was his idea. Driven by this frustration, he hatches a risky and poorly thought-out plan to fix things.

Director John Carney, known for films like Once and Sing Street, excels at showing how creating music can bring people together and reveal deeper feelings. His most recent movie, Flora and Son, starring Eve Hewson and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, tells the story of an American guitar teacher who connects with an Irish single mother through online lessons, and rediscovers his own musical ambitions. The film unfortunately didn’t get much attention after being acquired by Apple TV+ for $20 million following its Sundance debut in 2023, which likely led the filmmakers to opt for a wider theatrical release this time around.

I was reading about John Carney’s approach to filmmaking at SXSW, and it really resonated with me. He admitted he just doesn’t get how people write pages and pages of dialogue! He thinks it might be an Irish thing, too – growing up, he saw people burst into song even at really sad events like funerals. He feels like adding music to his films makes them feel more real, like life where you naturally have moments of joy even amidst the tough stuff. And get this – he actually suggested that if you’re having an argument with your significant other, you should pause and sing “Moon River” together! He swears it’ll fix things. It’s a quirky idea, but I kind of love it.

Unlike his previous projects, Power Ballad explores the inner workings of the music industry. It asks where artists find their creativity, how they navigate difficult decisions, and how they cope with the consequences of those choices.

Carney explained that the character of Rudd came from a man he saw in Dublin. This man, a rocker with long hair and a guitar, was struggling to manage his trash bins while also getting his twelve-year-old daughter into the car. Carney was struck by the contrast between the man’s rock-and-roll image and the mundane task he was doing, and wondered what his life was like after dropping his daughter off at school.

Carney’s friend, Peter McDonald—who played guitar and acted as Rick’s best friend in the film, and also contributed to the script—thought the man might be part of a wedding band, and perhaps a talented songwriter.

The song was central to the movie’s plot. It had to be incredibly memorable – so good that a pop star would want to cover it. However, it also needed to be slightly obscure, something a 27-year-old might misinterpret and then overproduce to make it overly commercial and mainstream, according to the director. He explained that the song needed to be both beautiful and a little irritating.

Jonas was attracted to the project because it explored the delicate balance between achieving success and facing failure – and all the challenging moments in between, where a person’s integrity is tested. Having worked in the music industry for over 20 years, he’s witnessed some artists maintain strong relationships throughout their fame, while others lose everyone around them. (The Jonas Brothers have faced plagiarism accusations, including a claim from Jason Mraz that Nick Jonas’s song “Introducing Me” closely resembled his 2008 hit “I’m Yours,” but no lawsuits were ever filed.)

Both Rick and Danny are sympathetic characters, according to McDonald. Rick feels resentful because someone younger is pursuing the one big idea he always had but never acted on. Danny’s situation is particularly tough; he’s still young, not even 30, but already feels like his career is over. His manager is pushing him to do anything for attention, even suggesting reality TV and outlandish challenges, so he’s under immense pressure to create something successful.

After the question and answer session, the moderator asked Jonas and Rudd what they wanted audiences to take away from the film.

“Be careful who you share a blunt with,” Jonas quipped.

“And if you do, make sure it’s Kevin or Joe,” Rudd chimed in.

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2026-03-16 21:56