John Carney directed two fantastic dramas with 2007’s Once and 2014’s Begin Again having great storytelling and great music together and now Sing Street follows those elements in the perfect way possible. Without seeing any trailer, I wanted to go into this as blind as much as I can. For a movie that revolves around making music, in general, will get me to like it. The simple story of a boy starts a band to impress a beautiful girl sounds plain enough. But once it delves into the story more, and how the culture of the music of the 1980s like Duran Duran and The Cure influencing the world pulled through, it’s really inventive and it’s expressed with loving the music altogether.
This provided some of the best young talents in a while especially Ferdia Walsh-Peelo as Conor and Lucy Boynton as Raphina had terrific chemistry. It’s because of this random idea to start a band in the first place is why it’s the best solution. Maybe there was a time in our lives that we wanted to impress some girls by putting together a band. But that’s the reality. Walsh-Peelo is someone to look out for as he shines in every scene he’s in. As Conor, he understands the music he’s accompanying as he deals with a bully at his new school and his parents are pretty much on the verge of separating. Creating music helps him get through everything and experience everything in any possible way. Boynton as Raphina, Conor’s affection, might seem petty at first as she tries to make it as a model in England, but deep down she’s caring, and the dynamic between them outshines.
And as of now, an apology for Jack Reynor is in favor. Because he was terrible in Transformers: Age of Extinction but in Sing Street, his character Brendan, Conor’s brother, is so lively and insightful as it’s understandable where he’s coming from. The dialogue that he’s given was absolute truth bombs. He went on this monologue that was genius.
Remember how Once had “Falling Slowly”(won an Oscar for Best Original Song) and Begin Again had “Lost Star” (nominated for an Oscar) were the most iconic songs in each movie? The music in Sing Street has some of the best original songs in a movie that actually might be better than some of the music from the previous mention films. Biggest standouts were “Drive it Like You Stole It” (Really upbeat that sounds like Stevie Wonder’s “Part Time Lover” or Elton John’s “I’m Still Standing”), “To Find You” ( a slow song that’s touching), and “Go Now” ( a great anthem for brothers).
This also has a good depiction of the 80s set in Dublin almost being like it’s set in that decade and what music stood for with its style and creatively. Carney knows how to do an original movie and it’s great to see a filmmaker have his mind to the screen and script. But what really made this special is that it has a good message about brotherhood, and it can’t be forgotten.
Sing Street is just a great heartfelt romantic musical and can be relatable to any music lover. Great young talents and the catchiest music of the year.
Grade: A-
Quotes to live by:
1) “Rock and roll is a risk. You risk being ridiculed.”
2) ”You can never do anything by half; do you understand that?”
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