Just Can't Get Enough..."Sing Street"

Sing Street (2016)

Rated PG-13

Starring Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Lucy Boynton, Jack Reynor, Aiden Gillen, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Mark McKenna, Ben Carolan, Ian Kenny,

Directed by John Carney

The Story:

Growing up in Dublin, Conor (Walsh-Peelo) is watching his family break apart as his parents (GIllen & Kennedy) are inching ever closer to divorce and he is pulled from his expensive prep school and sent to a Catholic school instead. Receiving the usual new kid welcome, Conor will have to deal with the school bully (Kenny) and is simply hating life. But when a new friend (Carolan) points out the mysterious girl across the way (Boynton), Conor figures out what he needs to do to impress the girl and make his life better: he's going to start a band.

This is everything that I hoped Pretty in Pink would be.

: )

Buoyed by an impressive soundtrack (it was the 80s after all), this coming of age comedy drama is also a musical.

But not that kind of musical.

No, the music is interspersed within the story as the kids perform covers and eventually sing their own songs.

The beauty of it all, the songs sound like they came straight from the 80s.

The new songs for the film fit in seamlessly with the works of Duran Duran and The Cure and other bands that influence these teens (and pepper the soundtrack) as they come to terms with who they are as a band.

The girl in question, Raphina is dying to leave Dublin and head to London to be a model.

This of course causes friction between her and Conor as she is his muse, and she sees him as just a sweet kid.

At least at first.

I would be remiss not to mention Conor's brother, Brendan (Raynor). He is the catalyst for a lot of what goes on in the movie, even though he doesn't have nearly as much screen time as he should.

The interaction between brothers gives the film the extra layer of heart it needs for an emotional finale that is so befitting this very charming tale.

The movie is streaming on Netflix as of this writing.

Final Grade:  B+