Musical drama ‘Sing Street’ hits the right notes
It’s about time we start throwing a little more love in the direction of the feelgood movie. Critics tend to dismiss them, blasting most for being schmaltzy and lightweight. Audiences, on the other hand, eat these crowd-pleasers up. Just consider the meaty box-office numbers “Chef” racked up in 2014.
“Sing Street” is in another league altogether. It’s a big-hearted charmer that makes you not only want to leap out of your seats to dance and sing, but to go out afterward and pursue your most impossible dreams. This toe-tapping valentine to the liberating power of music is an absolute blast and breath-mint refreshing in how it unapologetically prefers dreamy optimism over weary cynicism.
With his third feature, director-writer John Carney comes up with his most thematically consistent and successful film yet. As he did with “Once” and “Begin Again,” Carney creates a romance-infused narrative around which to frame his characters. “Sing Street” is far more polished and entertaining than Carney’s preceding films, melding music and message with refinement. Even the songs are catchier.
“Sing Street” takes a simple but personal premise and makes it pop. Set in 1985 Dublin, Ireland, it follows Conor (an ideally cast Ferdia Walsh-Peelo), as he struggles to adjust to being transferred to a rigid Catholic boys school, called Synge Street.
Conor is also dealing with a lot at home, including feuding parents (Maria Doyle Kennedy and Aidan Gillen), who are moving closer to being separated. He also has to share a room with his talented, though deadbeat older brother Brendan (Jack Reynor). Everything becomes clear — and later muddy, as does romance in most love stories — when he spots the confident lass Raphina (a beguiling Lucy Boynton) across the street from school. Soon, there’s some kind of wonderful brewing in a John Hughes sort of way.
In an effort to impress Raphina, who’s pursuing a modeling career, Conor tells her he’s in a band and making videos and wants her to be in one. Of course, that means he needs to first form a band, and soon he’s knocking on doors and get- ting a crew together. As usual, the bandmates turn out to be lovable misfits, including a multitalented musician who’s fond of bunnies and a manager who doesn’t know much about managing. Even the bully gets drawn into the action.
In one of the film’s most charming moments, Conor — dubbed “Cosmo” when performing — dresses up like the new flashy generation of stars, Duran Duran. Their first “video shoot” is hilarious, joyfully capturing how influential the budding music video scene was at that time.
But the high point arrives when the band Sing Street rehearses the knockout number “Drive It Like You Stole It,” a Broadway-worthy anthem that puts an exclamation point on the message that music can be the greatest refuge from reality. You’ll be singing the lyrics for days.
True, the film’s concept that music inspires us isn’t revolutionary. But that doesn’t matter, since “Sing Street” tugs at the heart and the soul so lyrically and wins us over with its endearing characters and peppy music. Even the most contrarian filmgoer will likely surrender to its charms and might even be spotted while exiting the theater with a little more pep in the step and a big grin.
Randy Myers is a freelance movie critic and is president of the San Francisco Film Critics Circle.