Sing Street Review

Sing Street Review

Sing Street is a absolutely wonderful film that perfectly captures the spirit and joy of self discovery and the power of music. The movie perfectly is a perfect combination of coming of age, teenage angst, and romance while our main character are discovering how to make music. The film is also a really enjoyable throw back to the 80s. It’s sincere, funny, heartwarming, sad, and profound at the same time. I can’t think of the last movie that I connected with so much. I smiled and laughed throughout the film. When I saw this movie I felt like the main character was me. I usually don't like to throw around the phrase timeless classic but for this movie I think it is appropriate. 

The story is about a boy named Conor (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) who live in Dublin in 1985. He is going through a rough time since his parents fighting all the time and he has to go to a Catholic School named Synge Street CBS, where he is picked on and the principle is a humongous jerk. Then Conor meets a girl named Ralphina (Lucy Boynton) who he falls for. To impress her he tells her that he is a part of a band and that he wants her to be in one of their videos. Because of this Conor forms a band with Eamon (Mark McKenna), who Conor writes the songs with, and some other young musicians. He also gets his friend Darren (Ben Carolan) to become the band’s manager. They name the band Sing Street, which is pretty obvious. With the advice of Conor’s older brother Brendan (Jack Reynor) we see throughout the movie Conor and Sing Street evolve as a band. 

The strongest part of the movie is the writing. The movie is written and directed by John Carney who was in a band and understands the perspective of musicians which is shown in his other movies Once and Begin Again. We see this in Sing Street as we see Conor evolve musically and as a character. At the beginning of the movie Conor is a quiet kid who has no identity and lives in a trashy neighborhood. He also is going to school with bullies and an authoritative Principle. He starts a band mainly to impress Ralphina but he can’t sing and can’t write songs. However throughout the movie we see Conor find an identity through the music that his brother Brendan gives him which includes 80’s bands like Duran Duran and the Cure. We also see Sing Street from a band that can't write songs to a band that can write songs in a heartbeat. John Carney also perfectly shows Conor’s creative process as we see him writing lyrics that reflect his life and we see him figuring out the melodies and rhythms with Eamon. My favorite scene in the movie is when Sing Street are performing and Conor imagines them performing in the prom scene from Back to the Future and it perfectly shows Conor’s creativity. That moment perfectly encapsulates how music is a powerful outlet for an artist. 

Another great aspect of Sing Street is the romance. Conor forms Sings Street because of Ralphina and most of the songs he writes are inspired by her. What makes the romance interesting is that they both learn more about each other by being with each other. At the beginning of the movie Conor doesn't know what he is going to do with his life but Ralphina is planning to be a model and go to London with he boyfriend. Then as Conor grows as a musician Ralphina starts to question what she wants.

Each of the actors do a great job at playing their characters. Ferdia Walsh-Peelo does a great job at playing a kid that discovers himself and so does Lucy Boynton as Ralphina. Both have amazing chemistry together. Jack Reynor also does a great job playing Conor’s slacker brother who was once an aspiring musician but now lives his dream through Conor. Aidan Gillen, who is Petyr Baelish from Game of Thrones, plays Conor’s dad and Maria Doyle Kennedy, who is also an Irish Singer, plays Conor’s mom and they both do a great job. The supporting actors do a great job from Don Wycherley as the principal to Mark McKenna as Eamon. 

The most shocking element of the movie is the fact that the songs are really good. Usually in movies like this the band would do cover songs or generic songs. However Sing Street mostly do original songs and they are all really catchy. Some songs will make you dance like Drive It Like You Stole It, some will make you cry like To Find You, and some will make you smile like Up. 

There are also some really funny moments throughout the movie. In one scene Conor is talking to his brother Brendan about Ralphina’s boyfriend. Then Brendan asks Conor what he was listening to and Conor says Phil Collins. Brendan then say he will not be a problem and says “No woman can truly love a man who listens to Phil Collins”. I laughed so hard when I heard this.

I honestly cannot think of any issues with the movie. I think it is a perfect movie. On the surface it looks like a generic coming of age story but with some great acting, writing, directing, and music it becomes something more. The best way to describe this movie is it is a much better version of The Commitments. To me this movie isn't just about the journey of someone who wanted to form a band but a story about someone fulfilling their dream and discovering themselves. I know that sounds cheesy but I think it is something everyone can relate to. I would recommend this movie to anyone, even to people who don't like musicals. Overall I think Sing Street is charming, mesmerizing, and heartwarming movie and it is by far my favorite movie of the year. If you haven't seen it see it right now. Who knows, the movie might make you want to start a band or want to fulfill your dreams. That’s how I felt after seeing this movie.

Grade: A+