Power Ballad's Tale of Artistic Theft Is Almost Too Much to Bear

Jonas and Rudd, at the scene of the crime —Courtesy of LionsgateWriter-director John Carney has become something of a cottage industry, making charming Dublin-set films about everyday people who love to make music whether it brings them fame or not. Movies like Once and Sing Street are designed to make you believe in the power of DIY music magic. They may be gentle pictures, but they remind you that just strumming a guitar can have transformative powers. They’re feel-good movies brushed with just the right amount of wistfulness.On the surface, Power Ballad—which Carney co-wrote with Peter McDonald, who also appears in the film—promises more of the same. Paul Rudd stars as Rick, a middle-aged Kansas-city-born rocker who’s been living in Dublin for 15 years: While on tour with his old band, he met and fell for an Irish girl and never looked back. That rock’n’roll girlfriend Rachel (Marcella Plunkett) is now his wife, and the couple have a smart, likable teenage daughter, Aja (Beth Fallon), surely named after the Steely Dan album, though no one feels the need to state as much.Rick’s life has settled into a cozy track. He’s the lead singer of a successful-enough wedding band called the Bride & Groove, and you can see why people want to hire these guys for their nuptial bashes. These guys know their stuff, and they wheel through cover after cover with professional aplomb. Kool & the Gang’s “Celebration,” Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys Are Back in Town”: they can do it…

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