Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Latest
    • 3627. I Believe In Miracles (2015)
    • 3626. The Man With One Red Shoe (1985)
    • 3625. Ode To Joy (2019)
    • 3624. One Chance (2013)
    • 3623. Falling For Figaro (2020)
    • 3622. The Polka King (2017)
    • 3621. Spies In Disguise (2019)
    • 3620. Friendzone (2021)
    The Mad Movie Man
    • Home
    • Blog
      • All Posts
      • Best Of The Year
        • Best Of 2015
        • Best Of 2016
        • Best Of 2017
        • Best Of 2018
        • Best Of 2019
        • Best Of 2020
        • Best Of 2021
        • Best Of 2022
      • The Decade In Review
      • Box Office Analysis
      • James Bond
      • Oscars
      • RANKED
      • Star Wars
      • The Big Questions
      • Top 10
      • World Cinema
    • Ratings
      • Top 250
      • Top 100 Foreign Films
      • Bottom 50
      • 0 – 1.9
      • 2 – 3.9
      • 4 – 5.9
      • 6 – 7.9
      • 8 – 10
    • Genres
      • Action
      • Anthology
      • Animation
      • Christmas
      • Comedy
      • Crime
      • Documentary
      • Drama
      • Fantasy
      • Film-Noir
      • History
      • Horror
      • Kids’
      • Musical
      • Psychological
      • Romance
      • Sci-Fi
      • Short
      • Silent
      • Sport
      • Superhero
      • Survival
      • Thriller
      • Western
    • Release Year
      • 2020s
      • 2010s
      • 2000s
      • 1990s
      • 1980s
      • 1970s
      • 1960s
      • 1950s
      • 1940s
      • 1930s
      • 1920s
    • Country
      • Afghanistan
      • Argentina
      • Australia
      • Austria
      • Belgium
      • Brazil
      • Cambodia
      • Canada
      • Chile
      • China
      • Colombia
      • Costa Rica
      • Czechoslovakia
      • Czech Republic
      • Denmark
      • East Timor
      • Faroe Islands
      • Finland
      • France
      • Germany
      • Georgia
      • Greece
      • Hong Kong
      • Hungary
      • Iceland
      • India
      • Indonesia
      • Iran
      • Iraq
      • Ireland
      • Israel
      • Italy
      • Japan
      • Latvia
      • Lebanon
      • Laos
      • Malaysia
      • Mexico
      • New Zealand
      • Nigeria
      • North Korea
      • Norway
      • Paraguay
      • Peru
      • Philippines
      • Poland
      • Romania
      • Russia
      • Saudi Arabia
      • Singapore
      • South Korea
      • South Africa
      • Soviet Union
      • Spain
      • Sweden
      • Switzerland
      • Syria
      • Taiwan
      • Thailand
      • Turkey
      • Uganda
      • United Kingdom
      • United States
      • Uruguay
      • Vietnam
      • Zambia
    • About
    The Mad Movie Man
    You are at:Home»Review»1356. Sing Street (2016)

    1356. Sing Street (2016)

    0
    By The Mad Movie Man on May 20, 2016 100-109 mins, 2016, 6 - 7.9, Comedy, Drama, Ireland, May 16, Movies Of 2016, Musical, Review, Romance
    7.4 Nice, but a bit thin
    • Acting 7.6
    • Directing 7.5
    • Story 7.0
    • User Ratings (0 Votes) 0

    Starring: Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Lucy Boynton, Jack Reynor

    Director: John Carney

    Running Time: 105 mins


    Sing Street is an Irish film about a teenage boy who, after a series of family financial difficulties, is forced to move to a rough school. There, however, he decides to start a band with his friends in order to impress a girl across the road.

    This is a nice film. It’s a coming of age tale with heart, it’s got a great soundtrack, and some pretty good performances. However, rather than telling a properly compelling story, Sing Street often feels a little too preoccupied with portraying its time period. It undoubtedly paints a picture of mid-80s pop culture very well, but that’s at the expense of a genuinely engrossing story, making this seem like a little too much style over substance.

    Directed and written by John Carney, who also made Once (which I didn’t like) and Begin Again (which I loved), Sing Street is a bit of a middling film of his. As we’ve seen in his other films, there’s always a real passion for making music, and how it can bring people together, and that does feature once again here.

    Time and time again, we get some great original songs mixed with classics of the 80s, and that’s one of the things that makes this an enjoyable watch. It’s a toe-tapper of a film, and, particularly if you have a strong nostalgia for the time period, you’ll love seeing it portrayed on screen so well.

    However, unlike Begin Again, which weaved that music in with an engrossing and emotional story, Sing Street suffers from a very thin story, and pretty plain characters, which means that it’s never as emotionally resonant as it needs to, and clearly wants to be.

    There were numerous moments where the story takes a step back from the fun of making a band and singing songs, and tries to look at the various problems in the characters’ lives in order to get you to connect with them more. However, seeing as none of the characters really stand out from one another, and all just feel like very generic coming-of-age movie teenagers, it was a lot harder for me to care about whatever was happening in their personal lives, which meant that any time when the film tried to be more emotional, it really fell flat.

    And this is where I’m going to bring in a comparison to The Commitments, which was clearly a big influence on this film. They both have great music, and they’ve both got a great sense of fun about them, but the major difference is the characters. In The Commitments, the varied personalities gave the film a great dynamic, and also meant that you could care about each individual person on screen, whereas in Sing Street, considering that we don’t have that, it loses a huge amount of its power, and makes the majority of the story feel very thin.

    The characters may be thin, and that does impact on your interest, but the performances are still very good. Although they may not have so much to do, young actors including Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Jack Reynor and especially Lucy Boynton really do shine, and do very well to keep you entertained and engaged by what is in truth a bit of an average and generic story.

    Overall, I liked Sing Street. It’s a pleasant, fun and musical coming-of-age movie which brilliantly portrays its time period and features some strong performances. Its story, however, feels very thin, and that means that it’s never as emotionally effective or interesting as it should have been, and that’s why I’m giving Sing Street a 7.4.

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    The Mad Movie Man
    • Website
    • Facebook
    • Twitter

    The Mad Movie Man, AKA Anthony Cullen, writes articles and reviews about movies and the world of cinema. Since January 1st, 2013, he has watched and reviewed a movie every day. This is the blog dedicated to the project: www.madmovieman.com

    Related Posts

    7.1

    3627. I Believe In Miracles (2015)

    5.8

    3626. The Man With One Red Shoe (1985)

    7.9

    3625. Ode To Joy (2019)

    Follow Me Online!
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Tumblr
    New Releases
    5.3
    January 17, 2022

    3620. Friendzone (2021)

    7.1
    January 10, 2022

    3612. The Lost Daughter (2021)

    8.0
    January 7, 2022

    3609. Licorice Pizza (2021)

    7.2
    January 7, 2022

    3608. Lamb (2021)

    7.4
    December 30, 2021

    3599. The King’s Man (2021)

    6.3
    December 29, 2021

    3598. The Matrix Resurrections (2021)

    8.4
    December 28, 2021

    3597. West Side Story (2021)

    6.3
    December 27, 2021

    3596. Gunpowder Milkshake (2021)

    Recommended Movies
    8.0
    Review
    May 26, 20180

    2161. Game Night (2018)

    9.1
    Review
    February 10, 20140

    450. All Is Lost (2013)

    8.2
    Review
    May 28, 20140

    572. The Children’s Hour (1961)

    9.6
    Review
    July 10, 20140

    618. Under The Skin (2013)

    8.0
    Review
    November 29, 20200

    3167. To Be Or Not To Be (1942)

    Popular Posts
    7.1
    January 24, 2022

    3627. I Believe In Miracles (2015)

    5.8
    January 23, 2022

    3626. The Man With One Red Shoe (1985)

    7.9
    January 22, 2022

    3625. Ode To Joy (2019)

    7.4
    January 21, 2022

    3624. One Chance (2013)

    6.3
    January 20, 2022

    3623. Falling For Figaro (2020)

    7.5
    January 19, 2022

    3622. The Polka King (2017)

    6.0
    January 18, 2022

    3621. Spies In Disguise (2019)

    © 2022 ThemeSphere. Designed by ThemeSphere.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.