Paul Rudd could be hated if he were any other man in Power Ballad

Power Ballad is a crowd-pleasing movie you probably won’t even clock is actually a musical until the credits roll.

But what is undeniable – and possibly infuriating to some – is the talent of leading man Paul Rudd.

Set in the world of wedding bands, Rudd slots in seamlessly as American Rick Power, who married and settled in Ireland, becoming the front man of The Bride & Groove.  

And while it’s only sporadically genuinely amusing, writer-director John Carney (Once, Sing Street) has crafted something much deeper than the film’s initial lightweight impression may suggest, ruminating on success and failure in the music industry as they rub up against one another.

Rudd demonstrates a fine voice for all the singing he does, from Celebration to Summer of ‘69… is there anything this man can’t do? If he wasn’t so popular, he’d likely be hated at this point for demonstrating yet another talent alongside his enduring likability and vampirically youthful looks.

But Rick struggles with having sacrificed his rock and roll dreams, slipping in an original song among the highly popular requested covers at the end of a wedding set to a very muted response at the start of the film.

‘We’re not rockstars, we’re human jukeboxes,’ he must be reminded by his bandmates. But their next wedding gig sees them rubbing shoulders with a bonafide pop star in the form of Danny Wilson (Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers), an ex-boyband star trying to launch his solo career.

Power Ballad is less laugh out loud funny than I anticipated, but it mines the rich vein of stark wedding and middle aged truths well. While this wedding is set in an extremely fancy manor house, the musicians are slumming it in bunk beds with a dodgy loo.

When they make their slow-motion grand entrance into the venue in their band T-shirts and black jeans, it’s only the older women who give them a modicum of interest rather than the sneering side-eye of other guests.

And when they watch a music video of Danny and his former group to suss him out, they all quickly reach for their reading glasses.

After Danny is coaxed to join the band onstage, with him and Rick duetting with gusto on some Stevie Wonder, the two frontmen – from opposite ends of the musical lifestyle spectrum – end up hanging out.

While getting stoned and drunk, they bond over a major songwriting session where Rick is flattered to be asked to sprinkle some of his ‘paprika’ on Danny’s work as he struggles with penning a ‘totally appropriate’ song for both his teenage fanbase and their parents.

It all seems to have ended harmoniously – until Rick later hears an extremely familiar tune while out shopping and realises Danny has stolen a long-gestating song of Rick’s that he played for him.

If you’re hoping for an out-and-out comedy, Power Ballad will be a disappointment. As I watched it initially as the opening film at the Sands International Film Festival, it had a lot to live up to given the film in its slot last year was the sublime Ballad of Wallis Island.

Ultimately, it did fall short there.

But as a more grown-up and subtle drama in parts, it quietly impresses – especially thanks to Rudd’s turn as a slightly awkward musical wannabe and Jonas, who keeps things realistic rather than opting to go down the easy, over-the-top route as a spoiled pop star brat.

Power Ballad was the opening film of the 2026 Sands International Film Festival, which ran from April 17-19 in St Andrews, Scotland. It will return in 2027.

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