"Sing Street" Review

Irish writer/director John Carney (Once) follows up his 2012 feature Begin Again with yet another rip-roaring, soul-soaring, heartwarming love story. This is Sing Street.

Conor (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) is a 15-year-old boy living in mid-'80s Dublin. His parents (Aidan Gillen, Maria Doyle Kennedy) are often too absorbed in money and fidelity issues to give Conor, his older brother Brendan (Jack Reynor) and sister Ann (Kelly Thornton) the love they deserve. Facing tough economic times, the parents decide to move Conor to the real-life Synge Street school run by the Congregation of Christian Brothers. There he faces down bullies and a fascist headmaster who forces him to go barefoot because he doesn't own dress code shoes. One day after a confrontation with a bully, Conor meets Darren (Ben Carolan), an ally and aspiring businessman. As the two walk off school grounds at the end of the day, Conor spots a beautiful girl named Raphina (Lucy Boynton) on the stoop across the street. He tries to impress her by saying that he needs a model for his band's latest music video and that she would be perfect. With few resources and even fewer friends, Conor decides he needs to make the gig legit by actually starting a band good enough to record an original song by the weekend.

The rest, as they say, is rock-n-roll history.

The film gets its name from that of the band Conor forms; the boys all attend Synge Street School, so "Sing Street" feels like a natural re-appropriation for such a group.

As he's proved with his previous films, Carney knows how to craft an engaging love story. This one feels decidedly fresh for a couple of reasons. The first is that it never seems like Raphina is an unobtainable object, like a princess locked in a faraway tower. She's practically another member of the band. The second is because their story never feels schmaltzy, and even when it dabbles in that territory, it does so with its tongue firmly planted in its cheek as exemplified by perhaps the coolest scene of the film. One day while playing in an empty gymnasium, Conor imagines a music video for one of the band's songs "Drive It Like You Stole It" which takes place during a 1950s high school prom like the one in Back To the Future. The idea is for Raphina to walk into the prom, have the crowd part, and the two of them run off into the moonlight together.

This is of course what Conor really wants in real life - for the two of them to run off and be together. It isn't necessarily a fantasy for him, which is why it's such a stellar, heartbreaking artistic expression on Carney's part to bookend that colorful scene with the band in the cold, grey gym after school with just a handful of offbeat backup performers. In truth, it's actually an incredible self-contained music video that Carney masterfully weaves into the fabric of the story.

It should go without saying then that Carney's script and direction are first-rate, and his original songs live up to that as well. "The Riddle of the Model" is a solid tribute to New Wave acts like Duran Duran and Depeche Mode, while "Drive It Like You Stole It" could be one of the top songs of the summer if it got radio play in the U.S.

Acting performances across the board are wonderful, with Reynor standing out as Conor's brother Brendan. He brings a crucial sense of "been-there, failed-at-that, but-that-doesn't-mean-you-have-to" gravitas to the character which reigns in, but also facilitates, the controlled chaos that Conor, Raphina and Sing Street represent. You'll leave wishing this guy was your big brother.

Truly everything about Sing Street (from the catchy songs to the terrific acting, to Carney's smart, funny script and assured direction) works in conjunction with everything else, and nothing feels half-assed. Sing Street is the perfect feel-good film to kickstart the summer season. This is one of the most complete and all-around solid films I've seen in some time. It certainly earns a spot near the top of my "Best of 2016" list so far. '

A+