I first became somewhat excited to see the movie Sing Street when I saw that it was based in the 1980s. Having been born in the late 1980s I and many other people in my generation have sort of a fascination with the pop culture perception of that decade. We feel weirdly nostalgic for it although we never really lived in that decade for very long. I think it is sort of how baby boomers felt about the 1950s which is why so many pop culture things attached to that came out in the 1970s. Sing Street is directed by John Carney who is an Irish director and formerly in the band The Frames. I had never heard of him before although after seeing the trailer for Sing Street I was immediately interested in seeing what this small indie rock movie set in the 1980s had to offer. After seeing I can say that it is good on many levels, but it was also not quite what I thought it would be.
Sing Street is set in 1985 and is about a 15 year old teenager named Conor “Cosmo” Lalor (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) who is forced to go to the cheap state school after his parents are having financial troubles. At home his parents are constantly fighting and the only one he has to look up to is his rock ‘n’ roll obsessed yet also lazy stoner brother Brendan (Jack Reynor). At first Conor has trouble at his new school by getting bullied and having to deal with the ultra strict principal Mr. Braxton (Don Wycherly). He eventually makes friends with a small red headed boy though and also meets a cute older girl named Raphina (Lucy Boynton) right outside his school. He convinces Raphina that he has a band and she should be in their music video. She agrees and now he has to get advice from his brother Brendan in order to form a band to get closer to her.
Everyone in this movie gives a pretty outstanding performance. Ferdia plays Conor really well and in a natural way although I don’t think it was too hard because he is around the same age in real life and is also a very talented musician. Don Wycherly as the authoritarian Mr. Braxton also shines in the movie by playing just the worst type of asshole principal. His performance is right up there with other historical movie authoritarians such as Richard Vernon from The Breakfast Club (1985) and Mr. Rooney from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986). Most of the actors talked with a pretty thick Irish accent but it didn’t bother me too much because after the first twenty minutes your ears adapt to it and you can understand what they are saying just fine.
Sing Street is a fun movie to watch and I have to say I’m a little surprised at how optimistic it felt. I was expecting a somewhat gritty indie movie about a Conor trying to grow up during one of the most financially hard decades in Ireland’s history. We kind of get that although the director John Carney seems to be determined not to make this a depressing movie which makes sense considering the movie is most likely based off his own life and experiences. Sure he touches on some serious issues that Conor has to confront although some of the really darker issues just get brushed over. I realize that it was a creative decision although I think the movie would have been a bit more relatable if it had addressed those issues in a more realistic way.
The most absolute best thing I can say about this movie is that it has a great original soundtrack. I love pop-rock songs from the 1980s and the original songs in this movie absolutely capture that time and feeling. A lot of the music in the movie is heavily influenced by 1980s bands such as Duran Duran and The Cure. I love watching movies where it shows musicians going through the creative process and making their music. This movie has some great scenes where Conor goes to write songs with his friend Eamon (Mark McKenna). Those scenes really work because Eamon is constantly asking Conor what certain lyrics mean and you start to see how Conor is using Raphina as his muse for writing songs. You also see Conor and Eamon form a cool Paul McCartney and John Lennon type of friendship.
I really enjoyed Sing Street overall although I can’t help but think it pulled a few too many punches. Maybe that is just my perception but I feel like it could have come off a bit better if it had been a bit more raw. Despite that though I still really enjoyed the movie even with it’s more fantastical moments. In some ways I actually have to give the filmmakers quite a bit of credit because they were able to make a movie that feels somewhat over the top, but at the same time it also feels down to earth. That is a hard tone to hit and although it feels a bit unequal they actually pull it off and were able to make a really solid movie.
Dave’s Rating- ★★★½(3½) out of ★★★★★(5)
