Ron’s Review

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Saw this film as part of Cineplex Canada’s Mystery Monday films. Cineplex had mentioned the mystery film as being “in-demand” but when the film began with a series of production film logos, I realised that this wasn’t a blockbuster. Instead, Power Ballad is a quiet and painfully slow film. It isn’t until the very last sequence that the film gains any sort of propulsion. My overall impression of the film is much higher than I’d have thought it would be because that ending scene was extremely well-edited, sound-edited, and planned out.

Unfortunately, the rest of the film doesn’t hold up to what ends up being a powerful conclusion. Despite being about music and the transcendent experience of creation, I can’t actually remember the song at the centre of the story. This is not a ‘Golden’ from K-Pop: Demon Hunters situation, sadly. But even if the central song isn’t that memorable, I do wish the jukebox songs in the film had stood out. A film about music and the soundtrack leaves so much to be desired.

Power Ballad is a two-hander with Paul Rudd playing the protagonist, Rick Power, and his frenemy, the young and happening singer Danny Wilson, played by Nick Jonas. They have decent chemistry but Rudd is doing the heavy lifting here. Jonas is surprisingly wooden at times, and looks like he’s phoning it in. Even during a scene where he’s passionately talking about the craft of music-making, it appeared like his lines had been re-dubbed because the emphasis just wasn’t there.

Even with the singing scenes, Jonas doesn’t enunciate. It’s astounding to say this, but Rudd sounds more powerful and clearer than the actual singer in this film. What is happening?

But the biggest flaw of this film is that it is much too slow. I don’t know whether something happened in the editing room but an entire subplot and character vanish at the start of the second act with no fanfare. Despite her being touted as a prominent catalyst, or at least a MacGuffin, in Act One. I kept wondering why she wasn’t being mentioned until I realised that the film simply wanted to focus on other things.

There are a couple of big reveals that happen via exposition. My disappointment at those moments cannot be put in words. There’s a particularly big one that I find unforgivable. It was so important; how could the filmmakers just have shoved it in as dialogue?

I found the film slow, and the shaky cam was painful to watch. But the ending was remarkable and showcased a level of intensity and pacing that has me questioning what happened behind the scenes.

Mon’s Review

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I had no idea about this movie. I think I’d seen one post about Power Ballad somewhere, and I’d clocked that the film had an odd combo in Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas. But that’s it. Would I have categorized this as an ‘in-demand’ film? Nowhere close. But, I ended up watching it since it was the surprise premiere at Cineplex Toronto. 

So, the film starts off in a somewhat familiar fashion–Paul Rudd’s character Rick is leading a wedding band and you can just see he’s aching to live out his dream of being a rock star. The dream is dead and gone, and his ‘career’ might be on the line if he keeps hanging on to it. 

Then one day he has a chance meeting with Danny Wilson (Nick Jonas). Danny’s supposedly living the dream. He’s an ex-boybander, who’s taken the ‘scenic route’ to find stardom. His solo career has not taken off. Can an evening of beers and jams give these two lost musicians a new lease on life?

At this point in the film, I thought we were headed into a cute bromance about finding the right partnership at the right time. Yeah, that’s not where this film goes at all. In a way, that’s great. Don’t be predictable. But none of the twists and decisions are foreshadowed either, so a viewer with little knowledge of the film may feel blindsided.

While I enjoyed the overall experience of the film, it was startlingly plodding in its execution. The pacing was stodgy. Some scenes felt overlong; gags meandered; and most of the characters were flat and thin. For a film with a lot happening, there was no momentum or energy. Even the song choices–original and covers–dragged that monotony along. I really wanted to enjoy the film and get swept up in the supposed twists, but it was a yawn. 

There was one scene that evoked a great deal of laughter from the audience, but that was at the start of Act III, and it didn’t last beyond that scene. 

However, despite the general air of ennui around the film, I was shocked at the way it stuck the landing. It was emotional, energetic, well-edited, shot and performed. A perfect combination that surprised me. Why couldn’t the rest of the film have had that same pace?

Power Ballad could have been a captivating musical journey of friendship and betrayal, of dreams lost and found. Instead it plods to a stunning finish that feels great, but belongs to a better film.