If there’s a new John Carney film, things can’t be too bad.
Carney has given us only delightful musical movies including “Once” — a massive hit that became a Tony Award winning Broadway musical, plus “Begin Again,” and “Sing Street.”
Now Lions Gate has picked up his “Power Ballad,” starring Nick Jonas from the Jonas Brothers and the eternally young Paul Rudd.
There are songs, too, by Carney and UK pop tunesmith Gary Clark.
The film, which recently finished shooting in Dublin, focuses on a talented but past-his-prime wedding singer (Rudd) and a young rock star (Jonas) who uses the wedding singer’s songwriting prowess to revitalize his own career.
I hope Lions Gate will put some effort into this release. Carney’s last movie, “Flora and Son,” was kind of botched by Apple when it was released two years ago.
But Jonas and Rudd should be good selling points.
I loved Carney’s “Begin Again,” with Mark Ruffalo and Keira Knightley. The songs were by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois of the New Radicals. It should have been a monster hit. But Harvey Weinstein changed the title from “Can A Song Save Your Life?” to its bland successor, and that didn’t help.
By the way, where is Keira Knightley? I miss her!
“Power Ballad” is written by Carney and Peter McDonald. The very talented Anthony Bregman and Peter Cron are producing the film through their Likely Story banner, alongside Robert Walpole and Rebecca O’Flanagan for Treasure Entertainment, and Carney.
Rent “Begin Again”!
