Director: John Carney.
Starring: Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Lucy Boynton, Aidan Gillen, Jack Reynor, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Kelly Thornton.
John Carney returns to his hometown of Dublin but this time to 1985 with a group of kids forming a band, rekindling his childhood what ifs and wishful happy endings. I adore Carney's inspirational Once (2007) going straight out and getting the soundtrack. Little did I know, that this wouldn't be the only music masterpiece Carney will come out with. I missed Begin Again (2013) but this urges me to now watch it. We follow Cosmo, played excellently by newbie Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, who gets moved from his expensive school to the Synge Street Catholic Boys School due to his parents struggles. What appears to be a step backward eventually turns into an accidental chain of events leading to the formation of a band called 'Sing Street'. It's all about the girl, and isn't it always? The Social Network tells us Facebook came about because of a girl, James Cameron tells us the Titanic sunk because of a girl. This girl in question is Raphina, played by the gorgeous Lucy Boynton who is little older than Cosmo but with boyish creative courage, their relationship blossoms as he forms a band to impress her. The film started to remind me of The Girl Next Door (2004) with Cosmo being Emile Hirsch, Raphina being Elisha Cuthbert and Paul Dano being Eamon who's played by Mark McKenna who, incidentally doesn't like acting. Chris Marquette would be Darren who's played by the tiny yet confident Ben Carolan and the minions from Girl Next Door making up the rest of the band. The colourful, misfit characters are greatly portrayed including keyboardist Ngig, Father Baxter, Bully Barry and other band members Garry and Larry whose bass is larger than him. Raphina quickly becomes his inspiration though never openly admitting to it (us boys are stupid) and he gets great words of wisdom from his older, drop-out, stoner brother, Brendan played by recent Tranformers starrer, Jack Reynor. His script is incredible, especially his 'paving the way' speech, thought he looked like a hippy Irish version of Chris Pratt. I don't think he can escape that and don't think it's a bad thing. It brought me back to my childhood, reminded me of all those teenage crushes, the lengths boys will go to just catch a glimpse and the heartache that came with it. That innocent attraction without any sexual tension. The chemistry between the two, both together and alone is superb, see Raphina's reaction to Cosmo's love letters disguised as songs on a cassette. As with all of John Carney's films, the soundtrack is amazing, the songs written and performed solely for this film are catchy and brilliant. Accompanying is a range of eighties classics that older brother, Brendan uses to educate Cosmo with. Adam Levine returns writing 'Go Now' for the film's end credits. If there's one thing Carney is truly passionate about, it's real music. Street music. The singer/songwriting and what goes on behind these extraordinary artists, earning Once an Oscar and Begin Again nominations. It's his key material and he does it so well. It's touching, emotional, inspiring and empowering. A definite feel-good movie about boy meets girl that tackles the bullies of life and all in the name of love. Certainly loaded with a cast of actors I'm going to be watching out for. Great gig Sing Street, great gig. One moooore! One mooooooore!
Running Time: 9
The Cast: 9
Performance: 9
Direction: 9
Story: 8
Script: 9
Creativity: 8
Soundtrack: 10
Job Description: 10
The Extra Bonus Point: 10 for being full of heart, reminding me of what innocent attraction felt like and for an epic soundtrack.
91% 9/10
