Review: Sing Street

The teenage years of a person’s life can bring about turbulence that’s just about guaranteed to shape their entire existence. Not only are you growing individually, but the people around you will prove to have a huge impact on who you become. That’s one of the things that John Carney’s Sing Street is able to capture as well as any piece of entertainment I can think of. It’s also a pretty good movie.

The story is puts the spotlight firmly on Conor Lalor (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo), the second son of a  cash-strapped couple in a struggling marriage. In order to save money, Conor’s parents (Aiden Gillen and Maria Doyle Kennedy) decide to move him to a pretty strict catholic school. Conor doesn’t take to this to well, but he chooses to make the most of it when he first sees Raphina (Lucy Boynton), a lovely young lady standing across the street from the school.

On a whim, he elects to make his way over to the other side of the street with the hopes of impressing her. In order to do that, he tells her that he’s in a band and they need a model for a video. The only issue with that is that neither one of those things are actually true. So in order to win her heart and not look foolish, he decides to get together with a group of his fellow misfits and form a rock ‘n’ roll band. By doing so, what starts as just a way to win the affections of his crush turns into something more that offers him and his band-mates some valuable life lessons.

It’s not often that you can say this about a love story, but emotionally, there’s a realistic vibe flowing through the veins of Sing Street. The characters come across as real people with real emotions, real personalities, real dilemmas and real dreams. The authenticity of these features can’t be understated. It’s quite nice to see a picture that doesn’t go for more than it needs to. Doing so here would take away from many of the endearing qualities that are being offered in and around this key aspect of the film.

Because of this approach that we see, you’re able to get a true sense of everything the characters are feeling and dealing with. Filmmakers attempt to do this in just about every movie, but it’s rare that they are able to capture the kind tone that is experienced in Sing Street. That speaks well of all involved and it also makes it easy for viewers to become attached to what they’re watching.

Obviously, the relationships between the characters assist in accomplishing such a feat. Whether they’re in good standing with one another or not, there’s something between them that is understood and perceived to be valuable. Even if you’re not from Ireland or have never been in this kind of situation, you should be able to develop some kind of connection with these kids based on all of this.

In reality, this is an uplifting and inspiring piece of art that deserves the kind of massive audience that’s usually reserved for movies that come with larger budgets. Even if you can somehow end up not loving it, I think it’s just about guaranteed to leave everyone satisfied with what they’ve seen after viewing it. When analyzing the film, I fail to see anything to dislike about this movie. It’s a simple film with purpose that focuses on life and some of what it presents to us all at some point. Plus, having some solid musical numbers doesn’t hurt either.

Ultimately, Sing Street is a poetic tale about kids learning to be happy while living in a saddened state. You may have to watch the movie to find out exactly what I mean by that, but it makes perfect sense when it all comes together. From my perspective, this is just one of the many ways that the film shows the genuine qualities and substance that can be put on display when something is done with true passion and knowledge. Those are a couple of crucial elements that are usually needed for things to work this well.

Rating: PG-13

Director: John Carney

Cast:
Ferdia Walsh-Peelo
Lucy Boynton
Jack Reynor
Aidan Gillen
Mark McKenna
Maria Doyle Kennedy
Percy Chamburuka
Conor Hamilton
Karl Rice
Ian Kenny
Don Wycherley

Film Length: 106 minutes

Release Date: April 22, 2016

Distributor: The Weinstein Company