*****
Determined to woo the mysterious girl he sees loitering outside his new school, a young boy decides to create a band with his fellow classmates.
A little way into John Carney's latest, one of the boys suggests that the band's newest song should be 'happy-sad', and indeed there is no greater way to describe Sing Street than 'happy-sad'. Heartfelt, packed with laughs but also undercut with realist bittersweet tones, this 'coming of age' story of a teenager growing up in economically deprived 1980s Ireland will tug at your heart string as much as it will make you laugh.
The central premise of a 'down on his luck' teenager attempting to woo the 'girl next door' has undoubtedly been done before, and yet writer and director John Carney manages to bring something new and fun to the proceedings. By choosing a cast of mainly new young actors, Carney creates a film that captures the difficult, yet often funny, period of being a fifteen year old. At the centre of it all is Cosmo (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, looking uncannily like a young Sam Riley), the youngest son in a family that is slowly tearing itself apart, with rowing parents and a disillusioned older brother (Jack Reynor). Desperate to win the heart of mysterious Raphina (Lucy Boynton), he sets about setting up a band of fellow classmates, who not only write their own music but film their own videos too. It is here that much of the humour lies, with the interplay between the band and their attempts to create edgy music videos, from ridiculous costume choices to Adam Ant-esque make-up. Indeed, some of these scenes are laugh-out-loud funny, and I was aware of how much I was grinning as I watched these young lads mess around. Carney has a great talent for observing the small nuances of different characters, from Eamon's (Mark McKenna) love of rabbits, to the tender scenes between young lovers Cosmo and Raphina, which injects a huge amount of charm into this little film. It's not all laughs though, with drug addict parents, abusive teachers and the quashing of dreams all solemnly represented. And is the ending even real?
Admittedly, there was one factor in the film that I had a major problem with, and that was that when the band come to perform together, it is clearly not them playing the instruments you hear on the soundtrack, and nor is it Walsh-Peelo singing. This seems a shame as it makes the band seem like a polished group, when in fact they are meant to be a mish mash of creative amateurs looking to have some fun and win some girls. It is definitely a misstep on behalf of Carney, and the film loses some of its immersive quality during these sequences, no matter how enjoyable they are. Also, with the band being so large, some characters are undeniably side lined - at least three have very little screen time.
Packed with moments of genuine humour alongside heartfelt bittersweet tones with real emotional impact, Sing Street is a very accurate portrayal of what it feels like to be fifteen, when everything seems possible and impossible at the same time. With a story of young love and friendship at its heart, interjected with some of the best tunes of the 80's, this 'coming of age' tale will resonate with every viewer. And as the screen fades to black, you'll be left with an undeniable, oxymoronic feeling that can only be described as 'happy-sad'.
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