Irish filmmaker John Carney seems to have the edge when it comes to making movies on singer/songwriters. His first one was ‘Once‘ which became this enormous sleeper hit that garnered a Oscar for Best Song, and then spawned the smash hit Broadway musical that won 8 Tony Awards. In his second movie ‘Begin Again’ the singer/songwriter this time around was played by a woefully inadequate Keira Knightly, and although it picked up a Best Song Oscar Nomination, simply lacked authenticity. However Carney has recovered his form with his latest musical that is set in his hometown of Dublin in the 1980’s and is the tale of a cute schoolboy who starts a band just to impress a girl who he wants to ask out.
The setting gives Carney an excuse to have young Conor’s band experiment with imitating some of the extreme musical and fashion styling of that period. The movie starts in 1985 when Conor’s vaguely artistic parents (Aidan Gillen & Maria Doyle Kennedy) have fallen on hard times and are about to sell up their large rambling home and separate (divorce not being an option for Irish couples). With money so short, Conor is yanked out of his private school and sent to the rather rough local one run by Catholic priests.
It’s there that he spots Raphina a rather glamorous 15 year old way older than her years who is sitting outside her apartment opposite the school gates. It turns out that Raphina has forsaken attending school and is just waiting to be swept off to London where she plans to be a top model. Most of the other boys are far too scared to even approach this vision of loveliness who they think must be out of their league, except for Conor who peaks her interest when he pretends that he has a band.
An unlikely friendship ensues and blossoms partly because the band of assorted school boys that he manages to cobble together are not that bad, and are at least certainly good enough to maintain’s Raphina’s interest. They start with aping Duran Duran and they also copy bands like The Cure. Egged on by Conor’s older brother (an unrecognizable Jack Reynor) a musical fanatic who for some reason refuses to leave the house, they evolve into writing their own music, but still borrowing heavily from their favorite famous bands of the moment.
It’s a delightful dose of nostalgia for a time when teenagers seemed as innocent as the music they loved, and so even when Raphina’s boyfriend enters the picture, it’s still quite obvious that even though he is much more worldly, he simply doesn’t stand a chance. Carney cast well, with a young newcomer Ferdia Walsh-Peelo giving a very impressive performance as the extremely likable Conor, and Lucy Boynton complete with her Pat Benatar coiffure was the perfect as Raphina the object of his desires.
Sing Street is unashamedly a perfect crowd pleaser of a movie that will especially delight anyone who has happy memories of growing up in that period.
