I laughed, I cried, I danced in my seat. This story of a teenage Irish schoolboy discovering his and his friends' musical talent, bonding with his brother, and falling in love made me very happy. I had a good time in the mid-1980s, when this is set, though I was far older, and the music of the time is spot on.
The tag line is "1980s Dublin, boy meets girl, girl unimpressed, boy starts band." There is more to it, though. I do wish I had asked for the closed caption device, as the Irish brogue was often difficult for this Yank, but I could hear the songs just fine.
The tag line is "1980s Dublin, boy meets girl, girl unimpressed, boy starts band." There is more to it, though. I do wish I had asked for the closed caption device, as the Irish brogue was often difficult for this Yank, but I could hear the songs just fine.
Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, in his screen debut as Conor, is a former boy soprano and just sixteen now, classically trained by his mother, also a soprano. He has a beautiful voice (and face, for that matter). Also lighting up the screen is the luminous Lucy Boynton, who made her start as young Beatrix in Miss Potter (2006) at the age of ten, and now has six projects coming out in the future, as the girl named Raphina. Jack Reynor (I don't remember him in Delivery Man) is quite good as the passionate brother Brendan, as is Mark McKenna as Eamon, also a musician in real life. Maria Doyle Kennedy (after I covered her in Albert Nobbs I've watched her recurring role on the series Orphan Black) plays the mom and fans of Game of Thrones may want to know that Aiden Gillen is the dad.
Director/writer John Carney (covered in Begin Again, which is mentioned along with Once (2006) in every ad for this movie) has put together a heart-warming and funny script with fantastic original music (on which he worked personally with composer Gary Clark) mixed in with tracks of the time, plus old rock videos along with custom ones just for the film. When I saw it this afternoon I counted 28 songs in the credits. There are 19 listed on imdb, 17 on this spotify playlist and ten on this one from youtube. In addition to Carney's earlier work I'd say this one got some inspiration from The Commitments (1991) (though Carney denies it) and That Thing You Do (1996).
I've asked some Irish friends and relatives to comment on the movie but haven't given them time to respond. This article, which has no spoilers, and the production notes are interesting. You can also see Walsh-Peelo and McKenna performing as themselves at a party at the Sundance festival, but I haven't watched it yet because lyrics make it hard for me to write.
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