Review – Sing Street

I’ve been attending the Sundance Film Festival since 2011.  Every year before the festival begins, I make a list of my most anticipated movies of the festival.  This list is based on a combination of the who the director is, who the actors are, and the film’s synopsis, because none of the films have trailers.  I usually end up seeing my top five choices because I make the time for those, but there are always about three or four that I miss.  This usually happens because I’m either seeing another movie, sleeping, hungover, or didn’t get a ticket.  Typical festival things.

John Carney’s Sing Street was one of those movies at this year’s festival.  I was really upset that I missed it, especially as the buzz for the film grew bigger and bigger as the festival went on.  I had to wait a long three months to finally see this movie and it was worth the wait.  Sing Street is a delightful movie filled with endearing performances and great music.

Sing Street tells the story of Conor/Cosmo (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo), a fifteen year old in 1980’s Dublin who moves from an upscale academy to an all boys Catholic school due to his parents financial woes.  He becomes attracted to a girl named Raphina (Lucy Boynton), a sixteen year old aspiring model who lives in an all girls home across from the school.  Having made a promise to put her in his imaginary band’s music video, he forms a real band with kids from school named Sing Street.  Getting inspiration from icons of the era, like Duran Duran, along with issues going on in life, Sing Street makes a number of demos and videos while Cosmo gets close to Raphina.

The music in this movie is great, but being written and directed by the man behind Once (2006) and Begin Again (2014), you knew it was going to be.  With a nice mixture of original music and 80’s classics from bands like M and The Cure, your toes will be tapping the entire time.  The original songs are the best parts about the movie.  Each song’s style is different and inspired by the aforementioned artists listed above along with others.  You can really tell Carney really knows his music.  The final act, where the boys’ play their first gig, is filled a perfect collection of all the songs they made earlier and slaps a smile on your face that won’t leave.  My personal favorites of the bunch were rebel anthem “Brown Shoes” and the love ballad “To Find You”.

The performances are very good from the whole cast.  Walsh-Peelo really impressed me with his singing and making Cosmo more interesting than most main characters in coming of age movies.  Boynton gives layers to the love interest that aren’t usually seen.  And I really enjoyed Jack Reynor as Cosmo’s older brother Brendan.  He has some really funny scenes as well as some really tender scenes as a burnout who helps his brother understand what music and life is all about.

The only real flaw with this movie is that it’s a bit too breezy to watch.  There are moments that could have added some meat to the story, like Cosmos parents’ divorce or the societal affects his band had on the school when they rolled in with make up and different hairdos every few weeks. The story stays pretty close to the coming of age formula, save for the end, which reminded me of the last shot of The Graduate (1967).  That was a nice and fitting touch to the film.

Breeziness aside, Sing Street is a blast.  If you’re looking for a fun and entertaining coming of age movie with great music, this is the movie for you.

MY RATING – 3/4

Will you see Sing Street?  What’s your favorite modern musical?  Comment below or hit me up on Twitter @kevflix or on Facebook at Kevflix.