Who owns a song? The song writer, even though what they wrote might not be all that commercial without help? The performer, who shapes the words and expands it musically? The listener, who applies their experiences and feelings to their interpretation of what the song means? That’s the central question of John Carney’s POWER BALLAD, the closing night film at the 2026 Milwaukee Film Festival.
First a little about the plot. Rick Power (Paul Rudd) is a former rock band lead who has now settled into middle age with a wife and daughter in Ireland and who leads a successful wedding band, mostly playing other people’s hits. Maybe he still dreams of what might have been occasionally, sneaking a song of his into the wedding sets, but otherwise is quite content and happy. At one wedding gig, he meets former boy band star Danny Wilson (Nick Jonas) and the two hit it off, spending the night drinking beers, having a few puffs, and working on songs. They get so comfortable that Rick plays a song he’s been working on. Danny is struggling to get out of the shadow of the boy band he was once part of. Frustrated with the progress on his latest record, he starts noodling on the song he heard and soon it’s a big hit which he’s claiming as his own. It becomes central to Danny’s new identity as a maturing singer-songwriter. Meanwhile, Rick is getting no compensation and no acknowledgement. Worse, Rick’s wife and daughter don’t remember the song, which he never bothered to formally record, and doubt his word. And it eats at him. Including the fact that they all live in a modest home and he never really fulfilled one of his dreams.
There’s more plot of course, but that’s the central conflict of the film. There’s more to the film too as John Carney displays his usual love of music that was so vital to ONCE and SING STREET. There’s no producing or studio recording scene like in ONCE, no putting together a music video like SING STREET, but there’s the joy of performing a song everybody loves before a live audience on display. And there’s the fun of collaborating and putting a song together in a memorable scene. And, other than perhaps the record company and their agents, no real villains.
Nick Jonas isn’t making his film debut, but he is asked to do more than he was before and proves to be very capable. Danny Wilson isn’t a pure villain but given the opportunity he takes the easy way out and just says what people want to hear despite multiple opportunities to come clean. Sometimes you have to ask whether Danny owns the song or does the song own him? The fact that Nick Jonas is able to communicate these various layers and nuances is a credit to him.
But the star of the film is Paul Rudd. He’s finally starting to show his age, but he has enough of his youthful good looks so that he’s a living embodiment of a dream still alive even as age is saying it’s time to move on. Which makes him perfect casting for the film and he responds with one of his best star turns ever. So good that it deserves to be remembered when Awards Season rolls around, particularly for comedy performances. And he can sing. Paul Rudd is simply terrific. It would be really easy for the role to be a simple caricature, but he continuously makes choices to find the more complicated and human dimension.
It also seems necessary to mention that John Carney with Gary Clark crafts a banger of a song with “I Don’t Want to Write a Song (Without You).” It’s very hard to write a song that sounds like it could be a legitimate hit. It’s even harder to write a song that can be interpreted in several ways and illuminates the psyche of the main characters. That couldn’t have been easy and it’s an accomplishment worth celebrating. I fully expect it to show up again during Awards Season. I expect to hear the song outside of the movie throughout the summer.
POWER BALLAD is a crowd-pleasing entertainment that also has something more to think about after the film. There’s very little about it I didn’t like. A coda to wrap up a plot point doesn’t need to be here, although it doesn’t negate anything either. But, the actual climax and point comes earlier. Also, there’s a point where Paul Rudd hits a low point and his wife piles on that feels artificial. She’s simply underdeveloped and you wonder why she’s suddenly so unsupportive in contrast to every preceding scene. A late explanation doesn’t fix that either. But, those are minor things that simply mean that POWER BALLAD is almost as good as ONCE, even if it doesn’t quite get there.
But it was absolutely refreshing to see POWER BALLAD in an almost sold-out theater with a crowd that was absolutely in to it. It’s heartfelt. It’s fun. It’s smart. It’s humane. It’s a film for anyone that loves a good movie centered around people you want to succeed. It’s an adult alternative to mindless noise. Don’t miss it when it hits theaters and then wonder why people didn’t make this a hit. You’ll have a great time.
The 2026 Milwaukee Film Festival ran from April 16, 2026 until May 30, 2026. POWER BALLAD will be getting a wide release in theaters across the USA on June 5, 2026. And the Oriental and Downer Theatres will keep playing movies all year round. Go support them at MKEFILM.ORG.
