Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas set SXSW on fire with “Power Ballad,” the latest music-themed comedy directed by “Once” and “Sing Street” director John Carney.
The film tells the story of Rick Power (Rudd), a singer in a wedding band, who rekindles his passion for songwriting when he happens upon a late-night jam session with former boy band star Danny (Jonas). But Danny didn’t just leave with new motivation. He took one of Rick’s songs, turned it into a No. 1 hit, and claimed it as his own. Rick then embarks on a quest to regain the recognition he deserves, sacrificing everything he loves in the process.
The film features several scenes in which Rudd and Jonas perform a drunken duet after Rudd offers him marijuana. If there’s one lesson you can take away from this movie, Jonas says: “Be careful with whom you share your insensitivity.”
The Jonas Brothers singer, who has produced solo hits such as “Jealous” and “Crows,” said he joined “Power Ballad” after hearing director Carney was writing a script about “a wedding singer and former boy band member who turns solo artist and tries to find himself.” Jonas quipped, “I said yes!”, nodding to the obvious similarities between his character and himself.
“Besides the more obvious themes…one of the things that really appealed to me is the idea of how much as a songwriter I’ve been in rooms that could go either way, like success and failure and everything in between, and moments where your character is questioned,” he added during the Q&A portion of the premiere. “Being in this business for over 20 years, I can’t tell you how many people have gone down a path where they’ve been successful and come back to the other side and still have friends around them, and some who have been successful and lost everyone in their life.”
Rudd said he was drawn to the film because, like Rick, he is a father of a teenage daughter and a “huge music fan.”
“He’s a dreamer with a strong desire to do something and express himself,” he said. “There were things that weren’t realised, and he faced disappointments. Those are very relatable things, so this character really meant something to me.”
Before the film was shown, Mr. Carney was welcomed onto the stage by a SXSW programmer who excitedly declared, “John Carney sucks!”
“If my mother had heard that expression, she would not have understood the irony,” the director replied. “She’ll say, ‘Why is she calling my son shit?’ I accept this very modern compliment.”
Introducing the film, Carney warmed the hearts of Texas with a heartfelt shout-out to Austin legend Richard Linklater. “He’s the reason I’m a director,” he said. “Not in the sense of inspiration, but in the sense of giving people permission to make films.”
