Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas fall flat in Power Ballad

Director John Carney has made a career in musical movies that have blown audiences away, like Once and Sing Street. His latest has a Jonas Brother and Paul Rudd, which sounds like an unbeatable combo, but Power Ballad ends up disappointingly out-of-tune.

15 years ago, Kansas City native Rick Power (Paul Rudd) had a dream of playing at Madison Square Garden. But when he met Rachel (Marcella Plunkett) on tour in Ireland, life got in the way, and he has stayed there ever since. Living a modest life in a shoebox apartment with their daughter, Aja, it seemed that dream would never come to fruition.

Now, Power is the frontman for The Bride & Groove—a wedding band of middle-aged wannabe rockstars. They act as human jukeboxes, playing hits from Kool & The Gang and Stevie Wonder on the happiest day of their clients’ lives.

At their latest gig, the groom asks if his friend could step in to sing for a song or two. Power cringes, but obliges. Danny Wilson (Nick Jonas) of boy band fame steps in, and the two share a bromantic moment onstage, continuing the jam sesh after the wedding. There, Power plays Wilson a gentle ballad he wrote years ago, “How to Write a Song (Without You),” which Wilson praises him for.

Months later, Power hears “How to Write a Song (Without You)” at the mall, Wilson’s newest single. At first, he is flattered, but soon finds out Wilson never intended to credit him for the song, causing Power to spiral.

Havana Rose Liu plays Wilson’s girlfriend, Marcia, who overhears him playing Power’s song on his piano in his Los Angeles home. She acts as the catalyst in Wilson’s decision to steal the song, believing it was written for her. But Liu’s character is completely reduced to this catalyst, with a montage showing how Wilson’s song has hit #1 on the charts also revealing the two have broken up. This comes as a shock, as it seemed her character was being set up for greater exploration, and a breakup or reconciliation scene would fit in well with the themes laid out in the rest of the film.

It feels that Carney disposed of her character, thinking audiences wouldn’t care about her storyline past her brief scenes with Wilson—a disappointing choice. This musical comedy adaptation of this story, from director John Carney, is full of potential, but doesn’t quite hit the right notes—coming off as underdeveloped and artificial.

Power goes on to be haunted by his song, hearing it on the radio and getting requests to play it at wedding gigs. He decides to track down and confront Wilson with his quirkiest bandmate, Sandy (Peter McDonald, who also co-wrote the film with Carney).

This is where the audience must suspend their disbelief; Sandy and Power fly from Dublin to Los Angeles to go to Wilson’s show, of which they have pit tickets to. It’s hard to believe that these failed musicians can drop everything to embark on this odyssey, let alone afford it with today’s ticketmasterification of concert-going.

Director Carney films the homes of his two stars in stark contrast. The Power household is warm-toned, homey, and shadowed, while Wilson’s is cool-toned, sterile, and resembles Kim Kardashian’s minimalist white void with some extra art on the walls.

Carney also interestingly uses Jonas’ similarities to Wilson to his advantage, using old footage of the Jonas Brothers. When Wilson and Power have their jam session, Wilson jokes about the key to writing boy band songs: appeal to both the teen girls and their parents. Maybe a little on-the-nose, but a comical addition and reference to Jonas’ upbringing of purity rings and acting on the Disney Channel.

Power Ballad does have some genuinely funny moments. Interrupting a special moment where Power plays a demo for his daughter, Aja tells him that women don’t want songs about falling in love or being lonely anymore. They want songs about revenge. 

In a sense, Aja is right, because while Power’s songs are catchy, they are incredibly generic and artificial, like he asked ChatGPT to write him a love song. Believing the notion that “How to Write a Song (Without You)” could be a hit, let alone revitalize Wilson’s fading fame, also requires some suspension of disbelief.

Both lead performances are well-executed, Rudd’s singing is solid, and Jonas even outshines Rudd in some moments with his acting chops. McDonald as Sandy is also a stand-out, operating as the perfect duo partner for Power to bounce off of.

But speaking of on-the-nose, the name ‘Power’ keeps getting cringier as the film progresses.

It’s reminiscent of Lily Blossom Bloom, the flower shop owner protagonist in Colleen Hoover’s It Ends With Us. The lack of subtlety in character naming suggests the audience needs to be spoon-fed the themes of the film, which are quite obvious and surface-level to begin with. As the film goes on, it feels more like an insult to the viewer’s intelligence.

Power Ballad, only 98 minutes, finishes prematurely and could use a longer epilogue, perhaps of Liu confronting Wilson and giving the audience a cathartic redemption for the disposable girlfriend character. Even with most of the loose ends tied up, the film comes off as unfinished.

Power Ballad is a warm-hug musical, especially for girl dads, but beneath its veneer lies a film that lacks sincerity and polish.