Nick Jonas and Paul Rudd in “Power Ballad.”
Lionsgate
Power Ballad, a music-themed comedy drama starring Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas, is hitting the right notes with Rotten Tomatoes critics.
Directed by John Carney (Once, Sing Street), Power Ballad opens in theaters nationwide on Friday after debuting in limited release on May 29. In the film, Rudd plays Rick, a washed-up wedding singer whose life takes an interesting turn when he meets and bonds with Danny (Jonas), a boy band singer whose career is on the downslide.
Their lives become complicated, though, when Danny turns one of Rick’s songs into a hit, but Rick isn’t properly credited for it.
Written by Carney and Peter McDonald, Power Ballad also stars McDonald, Marcella Plunkett, Havana Rose Liu and Jack Reynor.
As of Friday midday, Power Ballad has earned an 85% “fresh” critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer based on 123 reviews. The RT Critics Consensus for the film reads, “Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas prove to be harmonious screen partners in Power Ballad, a mellow dramedy that acknowledges the allure and pitfalls of stardom with equal measures of grace.”
In addition, Power Ballad has received an 83% “fresh” Popcornmeter score on RT based on 100-plus verified user ratings. The RT Audience Summary for the film is still pending.
What Are Individual Critics Saying About ‘Power Ballad’?
Richard Brody of The New Yorker is among the top critics on RT who gives Power Ballad a “fresh” score. Brody writes on RT, “Power Ballad is a sentimental tale of family and friends both fostering and thwarting a dream. It finds an unusually strong current of authentic (if narrow) emotion while leaving wilder ideas and feelings trapped beneath its surface.”
Ian Freer of Empire Magazine also lauds the film with a “fresh” on RT, writing, “Another catchy Valentine to the transcendent properties of music, Power Ballad is perhaps a little more grounded than your average John Carney playlist. Full of native wit, warmth and generosity: play it on repeat.”
In his “fresh” review on RT, Owen Gleiberman of Variety cheers the film, writing, “What makes Power Ballad a terrific film is how much we believe this story. Rudd makes Rick a fully felt presence, a gifted musician with a dad-rock swagger.”
Katie Walsh of the Tribune News Service gives the film a “fresh” score as well, but with some reservations. Walsh writes in her RT review summary, “Power Ballad is so light, it feels like it might blow away with a puff of wind. The beat goes on, but this one just doesn’t have the staying power of Carney’s other hits.”
Randy Myers of the San Jose Mercury News shares Walsh’s sentiments about director John Carney’s work, writing in his “fresh” RT review summary, “Power Ballad isn’t as consistent as Once, Sing Street and Flora and Son but as with all of Carney’s films have a big heart and a huge capacity to champion the unsung.”
Stephanie Zacharek of TIME Magazine is among the top critics on RT who gives Power Ballad a “rotten” score, writing, “It should all add up to the expected Carney magic — and yet somehow, it doesn’t. The performers aren’t to blame here; it’s the story that lets them down.”
Kyle Smith also gives the film a “rotten” score on RT, writing, “For a light comedy, Power Ballad contains far too much perplexed agony. It’s as if a bubbly Jonas Brothers single got infected by a toxic cloud of grunge.”
Chris Barsanti of Slant Magazine also deems Power Ballad rotten, writing on RT, “Like the fraught relationship between its two musician characters, the film never finds the right groove.”
Manohla Dargis of the New York Times isn’t a fan of the film, either. Dargis writes in her “rotten” RT review summary, “There are some promising themes in Power Ballad — the soulful joys of collaboration, the precarity of celebrity, the evils of the music industry — but the movie never develops them.”
Rated R, Power Ballad is playing in theaters nationwide.