An most enjoyable musical born out of cliches but made fresh by John Carney.
Sing Street
Grade: B+
Director: John Carney (Once)
Screenplay: John Carney
Cast: Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Lucy Boynton (The Blackcoat’s Daughter)
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 1 hr 46 min
by John DeSando
“Maybe you're living in my world. I'm not living in yours. You're just material for my songs.” Cosmo (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo)
By all measures Sing Street is just another teen-band birth in the style of the second British invasion. Difficult love, broken homes, and rebellion are plentiful. However it’s not just another cliché because the sentiment is real and the tone light to make a thoroughly enjoyable musical from the pen of writer-director John Carney. His Once set the standard for reasonable romance coming from the street into our hearts.
In 1985, fifteen-year old Cosmo (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) switches to a Christian Brothers school because his current Jesuit school is too expensive. The ensuing chaos comes out of his posh look and a disciplinarian Brother Baxter (Don Wycherley), who bans Cosmo’s brown shoes (all students are supposed to wear black). The universal truth, however, is that music will transform Cosmo’s band, formed to catch fetching, Raphina (Lucy Boynton), by inviting her to act in a video for a band he has yet to form.
The feckless parents and the usual bully who changes to good guy make appearances, as do the dorky but loveable band members, a motley crew to be sure. Their diversity, from diminutive dweeb to cool black keyboardist, Ngig (Percy Chamburuka), is enchanting; the creation of songs is gently witnessed, not always an element of any musical history, fact or fiction.
Arguably the most endearing relationship of Cosmo’s life is with his brother, Brendan (Jack Reynor), who could be Seth Rogan’s brother. Brendan is a free spirit who has lost his chance to make it in music but has endless patience with his young brother in providing him the wisdom and means to break loose. His sincere love for his brother is a touchingly true part of an otherwise romantic dream.
Mostly the musical emphasizes the mandate for talent to will its way to success, despite the counter-circumstances that keep him home and quiet his talent. London is, as usual, the promised land, even for kids from Dublin, and several times in this romance eyes look across the sea to that great island with its transforming city.
Sing Street is a formula and a most enjoyable one. Filmmaker Carney will bring a tear to your eye as the young’uns break from the imprisoning world of broken homes and repressive schools to play the music of freedom.
Often cited in Sing Street, “finding happiness in sadness,” is a mantra worthy of this musical. I’m not arguing with that cliché because I had too much fun watching it play out.
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.rr.com
