From the music-minded duo behind Once, John Carney and Peter McDonald trade soft romance for something far more morally grey with Power Ballad. If you thought “Falling Slowly” was an earworm, wait until you hear “How to Write a Song (Without You)” to move in and start rearranging furniture.

Power Ballad feels like a mash-up of boyband mythos from Take That to One Direction. If you didn’t know, let me fill you in. Nick Jonas plays Danny, a former boyband heartthrob desperate to find his own sound after the band’s breakup. The casting comes with built-in subtext since the role mirrors his own evolution after leaving the Jonas Brothers. 

Then there’s Paul Rudd as Rick. Rick was once a hopeful rocker who is now leading a wedding band in Ireland. Their worlds collide after a gig in a blur of alcohol, where ideas are shared. Fragments of songs drift between them. And then they part. But not after Rick is gifted a gorgeous vintage guitar from the ex-popstar. 

You may think that the story is going to take a predictable, happily ever after turn. You would be wrong. This is where Power Ballad stops playing nice.

Power Ballad: A Sharp, Emotional Look at Fame and Authorship

Danny, back home and still floundering, resurrects one of Rick’s unfinished songs and shapes it into a soaring hit that launches his solo career. Danny takes full credit. Rick is erased.

Knowing that the writers/directors are Irishmen, I can’t help but draw parallels to another famous singer, Robbie Williams, and the controversy surrounding his smash hit “Angels”. Irish songwriter Ray Heffernan claimed he originally wrote the song and shared it with Williams before a strikingly similar version became a global hit. A settlement was reached, but no court ever ruled that Williams stole the song. That ambiguity lingers, and Power Ballad leans directly into it.

The film thrives in that gray zone between inspiration and appropriation. Who owns a song born in a shared moment? The one who started it, or the one who finished it and made the world listen?

Paul Rudd Shines

The moral grayness of the story aside, the performances in Power Ballad are top-notch. Nick Jonas knows this world all too well. He leans into that familiarity with just enough self-awareness to make it sting when making poor decisions. Peter McDonald pulls double duty as Rick’s fiercely loyal best friend, Sandy. He’s the kind of ride-or-die we all need to feel heard and supported, even when the world has decided not to.

But make no mistake, this is Paul Rudd’s film. He turns Rick into a walking bruise, equal parts bitterness and broken hope.  Every missed chance, every swallowed frustration, sits just beneath the surface. You don’t just feel for him, you feel with him. You root for him even when his decisions veer into self-destruction because the film makes you ask the uncomfortable question. What would you do if somebody stole your big shot? How far would you go to take it back?

Power Ballad is a story about ambition, ownership, and the stories we tell ourselves to justify success. When the film ends, you’re just sitting there in that uncomfortable quiet thinking. Thinking about every time the wrong person got the credit, reminding you that the idea that greatness doesn’t always come down to talent, it comes down to who actually gets heard.

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