Sundance Review: Sing Street
When watching so many dramas in such a short period of time, coming across something as purely fun and entertaining as Sing Street is a breath of fresh air. The film comes from John Carney whose previous credits include the highly acclaimed musicals Once and Begin Again. It was the latter that really drove me to wanting to see Sing Street, and as lovely as Begin Again was...Sing Street is going to be the film that really wins over audiences. At least, I hope so. After all, everyone in our theater seemed to be overcome with joy at the 80's pop music tribute.
Sing Street is all about a 15-year old boy whose life changes when he falls in love with music...as well as the cool aspiring model (Lucy Boynton, aka a dead ringer for Felicity Jones) who becomes his muse. Our young hero, later nicknamed Cosmo, in an attempt to get closer to his crush, decides to form a band so they can use her modeling services in their music videos. Under the constant advice of his 80's pop music aficionado brother, Cosmo learns how to craft the perfect songs and videos, as well as woo the girl of his dreams. Sing Street is utterly delightful. It's the type of movie that you want to see again the very next day and tell all your friends about.
The soundtrack features odes to all your favorite 80's tunes, but it's the new songs on the soundtrack that you'll be craving to listen to after the film ends. If I have a single complaint about the film, it would be that our protagonist's singing voice changes from awful to amazing a little too abruptly, and in general, the band gets pretty good relatively fast. You have to wonder when he found the time to take singing lessons! Minor nitpicks aside, Sing Street is wonderful in so many ways. It's the type of movie that pays reverence to relationships like your first love, but also the familial ties that bind. To me, the core of the story really is the relationship between the two brothers. And in that regard, the ending couldn't be more perfect. Honestly, I left the theater with a big grin on my face, and I can't wait for the rest of the world to see it too.
