Power Ballad centres around Rick Power (Paul Rudd – Anaconda), frontman for wedding singer band Bride & Groove, and a famous pop star, Danny Wilson (Nick Jonas – Chaos Walking), the character name for whom rang a bell, but more on that later.
For the former, he used to be in an actual music band, but has long since had to give up his dreams of fortune and glory, as shown when he likes throwing in one or two of the old songs he used to sing – rather than standard cover versions, but as one of the band members tells him, “We’re not rock stars, we’re human jukeboxes(!)”
However, I figured it must get boring just singing other people’s songs – as is clearly showing with Rick. And I’ve seen the same happen with other bands at a music night, when they’re purely warbling the music of others, with the pain in their faces clearly etched.
It’s at one of those weddings where pop star Danny appears, as he’s a friend of the groom, and after the gig, events lead to Rick jamming with Danny in his hotel room, eventually collaborating on a twee piece of dirge, which has been rummaging around in Rick’s mind for the past 20 years, but which he’s finally getting round to commit to a recording.
Alas, after that night, Danny steals Rick’s song, without him realising, and six months later, the latter hears it in a mall, tries to get in touch to see how much this is going to lead to in royalties, when… yep, he’s going to be shafted.
Oh, but in order to show provenance, if Rick can find an earlier, existing recording of him singing the song when first crafting it – or any version before he met Danny, he’ll have a legal case. Now, you DID record a demo, Rick? Erm…
With decent performances on view, while Power Ballad takes around 30 minutes to get going, it’s once events reach that six-month point that they start to get interesting, and from then, it does become surprisingly gripping, even if it is quite silly on occasion, as the plot tries to discover whether or not Rick will resolve this.
It’s just a shame the plot is a bit surface-level, overall. Plus, annoyingly, as singing is heard, it’s always as if they’re miming to pre-recorded vocals in a studio, rather than trying to make it sound live.
Additionally, writer/director John Carney‘s 2016 movie, Sing Street, is essential viewing, but while I’ve still to get round to seeing 2006’s Once, I am aware of a particular song from that which comes up in this, and I thought it was the same actor performing it, but for some reason, it’s not, and feels a missed opportunity.
However, where there IS an interesting link is that one of the film’s composers is Gary Clark, who also did the same with Sing Street, and who was the frontman for ’80s group…. Danny Wilson! Their best known hit, Mary’s Prayer, also pops up along the way in a bar. That said, my favourite was always Nothing Ever Goes To Plan.
NOTE: The are no mid- nor post-credits scenes.
Power Ballad is in cinemas now, and is available to pre-order on Blu-ray and DVD.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 98 minutes
Release date: May 29th 2026
Studio: Lionsgate Films UK
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Cinema: Odeon Trafford Centre
Rating: 7/10
Director: John Carney
Producers: Anthony Bregman, John Carney, Peter Cron, Rebecca O’Flanagan, Robert Walpole
Screenplay: John Carney, Peter McDonald
Music: John Carney, Gary Clark
Cast:
Rick Power: Paul Rudd
Danny Wilson: Nick Jonas
Marcia: Havana Rose Liu
Mac: Jack Reynor
Sandy: Peter McDonald
Binzer: Rory Keenan
Bernie: Paul Reid
Kyle: Keith McErlean
Aja: Beth Fallon
Rachel: Marcella Plunkett
Claire: Emma Rose Creaner
George: Robert Mitchell
Barbara: Juliette Crosbie
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.