Power Ballad (2026) is directed by John Carney, who also wrote the film alongside Peter McDonald. It stars Paul Rudd, Nick Jonas, Peter McDonald, Jack Reynor, Beth Fallon, Marcella Plunkett, Rory Keenan, Havana Rose Liu, Paul Reid, Keith McErlean, Emma Rose Creaner, Robert Mitchell, and Juliette Crosbie. The film follows Rick (Rudd), a lifelong musician-turned-family man who spends his days as the lead singer of a wedding band. While working a gig, he hits it off with one of the guests, Danny (Jonas), a famous boy band star. This leads to a night of drinking and music, during which Rick plays a love song he wrote years ago. The two go their separate ways, but almost a decade later, Danny’s desperation to write a solo hit leads him to record Rick’s song from all those years ago. The ballad quickly becomes a massive hit, with Danny claiming it as his own. Robbed of the money and recognition he had always dreamed of, Rick sets out to prove he wrote the song, only to find it much more difficult than he ever expected.

Rudd’s not some kind of musical guru in real life (at least not to the extent of his co-star), which is apparent in the close-ups of him giving vocals. It’s clear that his singing voice is heavily edited, but it also doesn’t help that his lips are often out of sync with his mouth movements. He’s missing something performance-wise, but it’s easy to forgive when you consider that his character’s ultimate strength is writing songs, not headlining massive venues to play them. Other than this one instance of Rudd being asked to serve the written character, the role actually plays perfectly into many of his strengths as an actor. He delivers this kind of light, corny humor as effectively as anyone I can think of, but also sells the character’s emotional climaxes. Rudd’s fun here, but what sells the character is his struggle to confront his artistic motivations after his lifelong dream of writing a hit song comes to fruition, but isn’t recognized for it. Was his goal to create great music that means something to people, or simply become rich and famous?  Although this is marketed as a two-hander with Nick Jonas, make no mistake, this is Paul Rudd’s movie through and through.

Jonas clearly still needs to hone his acting abilities, which becomes clear once his character is asked to convey big emotions. Thankfully, he’s far more effective at conveying subtle emotional beats, such as the character’s growing guilt about stealing Rick’s song. The writing does a great job of helping you understand and sympathize with his character, without forgetting that he’s the one who did something needlessly immoral/illegal and continually refuses to make amends. You can’t quite forgive the character, but his motivations are clear and thus easy to sympathize with. It’d be nice if Danny had a little more to do in the story’s second half, and also if Jonas were just a bit less green of an actor, but his real-life talents easily sell the most important aspect of the character: the music. It’s also clear that Jonas’ real-life experiences helped shape some of the movie’s best moments. For example, there’s one particularly funny scene where a drunk Danny & Rick try to write a song that appeals to both teenage girls and their parents, but almost everything they improvise ends up sounding unintentionally dirty. This is undoubtedly hilarious and enlightening, but it also adds a lot to the character’s authenticity.

The film’s sharp balance of clever humor and poignant emotional drama is even more effective than I expected, but it shouldn’t have been. I’ve championed John Carney’s films ever since Sing Street (2016), so I guess I was just a little surprised to see what is probably his best film so far. His feel-good, sometimes corny themes aren’t for everyone, which is only amplified by his tendency to use sentimental music to draw an emotional response from the audience. That being said, it always maintains a level of realism/authenticity that nicely balances this occasional corniness. Honestly, this is the perfect showcase of what’s appealing about Carney as a director, so it’s exciting to see him absolutely nail his first truly mainstream Hollywood film. It’s a smart, feel-good movie that never feels overly optimistic in a way that would sacrifice its authentic characters and world. He’s the rare storyteller who can consistently tell stories with positive messages about people/the world without them coming across as foolishly optimistic. 

Overall, Power Ballad is arguably my favorite non-horror filmgoing experience of the year thus far, and signals a high point for John Carney as a director/storyteller. It’s a great showcase for Paul Rudd as a dynamic lead, and although Jonas’ performance shows a lot of room for improvement, he’s appropriately cast as Danny, which ultimately works in the character’s favor more often than not. Nearly all the important emotional beats and comedic punchlines land better than I’d hoped, including an ending that, refreshingly, gets straight to the point and delivers the perfect blend of solid answers and subtle hints. Unless you’re allergic to anything that’s even slightly corny, you’ll have a great time with Power Ballad. B+