Sing Street

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: John Carney/Starring: Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Jack Reynor, Lucy Boynton, Mark McKenna, Maria Doyle-Kennedy, Don Wycherley and Aidan Gillen

Director John Carney, who gave us Once and Begin Again, steps behind the camera again for Sing Street; his romantic/drama/musical whose story borrows many elements from the aforementioned films. I hesitate to call the films a trilogy because we can never be certain if more films of this ilk are in the works. Formula is beginning seep into his films. Carney's latest also reminds me of The Commitments; which may be a deliberate allusion. The two films have actress Maria Doyle-Kennedy in common, as well as Glen Hansard; star of Once, though his function in Sing Street is only as a contributing songwriter. Though the film has its charms; offbeat cast, catchy songtrack and romance; it also feels like many movies I've seen many times. It's the kind of movie one might enjoy while being aware of its insubstantiality. It gets the period right but the serious story lurking beneath its misfit appeal is only wafer-deep.

Set in Dublin in the mid-80s', Ireland's economy is stagnant and many Irish are setting off across the water to England, seeking better opportunities. Among the hard hit is the Lalor family, who are forced to reorganize their expenses to make ends meet. One change the family initiates is with their son Conor (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo), who is pulled out of his expensive Jesuit school to attend a public school. But financial hardship isn't the only problem facing the Lalor family, for Conor's parents: Penny (Maria Doyle-Kennedy) and Robert (Aidan Gillen) are weathering a shaky marriage. Conor's older brother Brendan (Jack Reynor), has dropped out of school and lies about the house idly; without prospects and direction.

Conor finds his new school--Synge Street--to be dramatically different from his previous alma mater as bullies tyrannize the halls and a humorless headmaster named Brother Baxter (Don Wycherley) exerts his despotic authority. In Conor's first week of school, he finds he has run afoul of the school's dress code, for which Baxter shows his unyielding firmness.
Conor also finds he is the focus of a bully's wrath, which earns him torments and ultimately a black eye.

As the school year proceeds, Conor notices a girl a few years older than he, watching the boys trudge to school everyday. He summons the courage to speak to her and after some small talk, he learns of her dream to become a model in London. In hopes of becoming acquainted, he asks Raphina (Lucy Boynton) if she would like to be in his band's video. When she responds in a semi-committal way, he sets out to form a band with the help of his new friend Darren (Ben Carolan). Darren and Conor begin recruiting musicians in earnest. The sequence that follows after is lifted wholesale from The Commitments as the recruitment process nets a group of oddballs whose skills betray an acceptable level of competence. A key member is Eamon (Mark McKenna), a be-speckled schoolmate who auditions for Conor by playing a variety of instruments.

The band progresses quickly (probably faster than plausibility should permit) and before long, they come up with a band name--Sing Street--and a video concept to accompany an original song, which brings Raphina into their fold. The band's sound develops, as does Conor's interest in Raphina though his plans suffer a snag when he finds she has a boyfriend. As he becomes more acquainted with her, he discovers Raphina is living in a home for young women. She later explains her situation when she divulges her parent's troubles

As the story progresses, the various narrative threads begin to coalesce. The film begins to explore Conor's relationship with his brother and Brendan's frustration with his failures, which become more acute when Sing Street begins to show promise. The Lalor's divorce creates a residential issue for the family and Conor's relationship suffers a setback when Raphina's modeling foray in London fails.

Sing Street's first gig in the school gym is a modest success; the band firmly establishes its sound. By the final reel, the story's unresolved issue is whether Conor and Raphina will run away to London to pursue their respective dreams.

Though Carney tries to give what is essentially a musical some dramatic heft, the movie lacks the gravitas of Once and the comedic verve of The Commitments. In spite of, the characters are interesting enough to keep one emotionally invested in the story, but barely. As mentioned earlier, the story is a pastiche of better films.

The music does give the story color. The band's original compositions mingle with songs from the period: Inbetween Days, by the Cure, Rio, by Duran Duran and Pop Muzik, M, which give us a sense of the influences and inspirations behind Sing Street's music. I credit Carney for showing us scenes of Conor and Eamon composing; a crucial detail that paints a picture of the boys as complete musicians. Nevertheless, it's difficult to recall most of the songs composed for the film.

Once was a bittersweet story that at times seemed documentary-like. Sing Street is light but maybe too light and too derivative. It really doesn't distance itself enough from The Commitments to claim its own dramatic territory. At least the movie was better than Carney's last film; the unfortunate Begin Again which offered nothing for the ear nor eye. Sing Street doesn't leave one singing, but at least it it isn't a bore.

Begin Again

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: John Carney/Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Keira Knightley, Hailee Steinfeld, Mos Def, Catherine Keener, James Corden and Adam Levine

Director John Carney struck gold with Once some years back, with its charming leads and lovely, heartfelt songs. Begin Again hopes to recapture some of that magic but with a high-profile cast and a setting more American. Everything that made Once a sweet surprise is glaringly absent here as Mark Ruffalo and Keira Knightley try in vain to make what is essentially a re-worked and warmed-over version of Carney's better film hum. Unfortunately, its musical theme is mostly a thrum.

From Carney's own script is a story of a nearly washed-out, small record company executive named Dan (Ruffalo) who manages to lose his job as a partner at the label he helped found. He drinks excessively, is separated from his wife and infrequently sees his teenage daughter, who is mildly contemptuous of him whenever he arrives to pick her up. He is also broke and even involves his daughter in a drink-and-dash at a bar when he learns neither can foot the bill. Dan's pathetic, selfish and desperate nature comes through loud and clear.

Dan then meets Greta (Knightley), a singer-songwriter from London whose boyfriend Dave (Maroon 5's Adam Levine) has just broken into the music bigtime. Briefly sharing his success, she discovers an affair he's had with a record label staff member when he plays her a song that is all-too-revealing. Greta leaves Dave then seeks temporary shelter with her fellow countryman singer Steve (an amusing James Corden). After she is coaxed onstage by Steve at a local club, Greta's song meets an unreceptive audience and she leaves the stage dejected. Unbeknownst to Greta, her song manages to charm one patron--a liquored but appreciative Dan, who happens to be watching.

We first hear her perform the song, then later we see the performance from Dan's perspective. His fine-tuned musical experience allows him to hear the song with instrumental accompaniment. A piano, guitar, drums, violin and cello all play themselves; bringing a fuller, warmer sound to the composition. This segment was a nice touch; it was very musical and it gave Ruffalo's character some professional credibility.

Impressed with Greta's song, Dan approaches her afterward with an offer to record her music though he is up front about losing his job, being broke and drinking way too much. Greta is skeptical, citing her plans to return to London the next day and a natural aversion to recording her music.

The next day Greta agrees to his offer to record her music which inspires Dan to use various locations around the city rather than a studio to capture her sound. Dan also manages to find musicians hungry and eager enough to work for free. I liked the scenes where the band records in alleys, building-tops, Central Park, Chinatown and the subway. The natural settings allow Carney a natural visual palette from which to utilize the city's inherent charms and personality. The improvised locations are perfectly wed to the rag-tag group's guerilla recording tactics. Carney's directorial inventiveness comes through here and lends some color to the story.

As the recordings progress, Dan must deal with his fractured relationship with his daughter and his wife while Greta hopes to overcome her post-break-up despondence. A natural romantic bond blossoms between Dan and Greta though they resist its allure.

I wish the story had followed a less-predictable course but it seems the God of Neat Endings and Mended Loose Ends must be appeased--a filmmaker's typical pitfall--which cripples a film that occasionally strayed into interesting areas.

Catherine Keener's role as Mark Ruffalo's wife was shamefully underwritten. A fully-realized character in Keener's hands can be something wonderful, but here she behaves according to the script's dictates, which is a pity. Steinfeld can always be counted on for some quirkiness but her only vacation from her rigidly drawn character is a scene where she is invited to play guitar with the band. Ruffalo is always interesting, playing his character with ragged appeal and sprinkles of scoundrel thrown in. I'm afraid to say I found Keira Knightley spectacularly miscast. I couldn't buy her for a second as a singer/songwriter though she does have a pleasing singing voice. Even small details like the way she tentatively held her guitar made her unconvincing. Music doesn't radiate from her the way it does from say, a Joni Mitchell or a Neil Young; songwriters who play their guitars with authority and love. I'm also of the school that finds her mannerisms distracting and annoying, which makes it difficult to forget HER in her performance.

Greta's bland, generic songs also do no favors for the movie. Even with full-band accompaniment, they seem like any-song from anyone, with no real soul or passion. Even some of the CD demos Dan jettisons disgustedly from his car have more aural appeal than Greta's work.

Even though Carney may not have been conciously making Once II, I'm sure he was hoping the same spirits might be summoned for Begin Again. But among the many things that made Once irresistable was a story and characters that were so real because they essentially were. The actors wrote the songs; music so plaintive and beautiful but lived them as well. In a 2011 documentary (The Swell Season), which captured stars Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova in their post Once relationship, we see people and a romance that wasn't unlike the film. Hansard and Irglova could inhabit their characters and could write lovely, melancholy songs in Once because they were their characters. Music is as necessary and vital to them as their skin and they express this beautifully and tragically in the film.

If only Begin Again had the same poetic urgency it might have been something better than a drama plotted by a clockmaker; with gears and cogs that turn according to design but only yield the modest musical chirps of a cuckoo.