Power Ballad

Rick (Paul Rudd) is an American living in Ireland, where he sings and plays guitar in a cover band (The Bride and Groove) that mainly plays wedding receptions. He gave up his dreams of hitting it big as a rock star years ago, when he fell in love with an Irish woman, got married, and had a daughter. He’s mostly happy with his life.

B&G is playing at a fancy wedding held in a castle, and one of the (American) groom’s best friends is a former boy-band pop star, Danny (Nick Jonas). Danny joins the group for a song, and Rick and Danny hit it off and have a great time. After the reception, Rick is strolling the castle grounds, and passes by Danny’s amazing suite. Danny invites him in to talk about music, and it turns out that Danny has been staying there awhile, working on a new album. He’s been having trouble getting away from his boy-band image, and is working on some songs. Rick comes up with some good ideas for a song Danny is working on, and then Rick shares an unfinished song he’s been working on for the last decade plus, but he can’t quite get the bridge right. They have a great time, Rick goes home to his family, Danny goes back to the US.

Six months later, Rick is buying soccer shoes for his daughter at the mall, and hears his song, the one he had been working on but never finished, played over the sound system. WHAT? He thought Danny was such a genuine, nice guy, but he ripped him off? Suddenly the song has become a come back hit for Danny, and Rick is seething. But no one remembers him working on this song..not his wife and daughter, not his band mates, no one. Rick starts to lose his shit, thinking of the road not travelled, of how getting a partial writing credit on this song could be life changing for him, of what it means to be an artist who creates, not just a member of a cover band.

Ted and I saw Power Ballad on Saturday, and we both really enjoyed it. Both Rudd and Jonas were great, and it was a fun way to spend an afternoon.