Film: 'Sing Street'

I had some dread about going to see this, but as there's been a bit of 'buzz' about it, plus positive reviews, felt I ought to give it a go. In the event it wasn't so bad at all, and apart from a couple of very cheesy aspects of the story it carried me along quite agreeably.


An Irish film - Dublin, mid 1980s - it concerns a teenage schoolboy (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo), starting off in a priest-run boys school where he occasionally gets bullied, though that doesn't stop him holding his head up. He's intrigued by the tantalising presence of a girl of similar age (Lucy Boynton) who hangs around outside the school gates with little apparent purpose. His attempt to make friends with her flounders, but not put off by her dismissive attitude he hits on the idea of forming a pop group (as you would!) with himself as lead singer, trying to emulate the likes of 'Duran Duran'. He also has the talent to write his own songs, reflecting the current life situations he's experiencing. 
The film tracks his attempts to be a member of this group and impress the stand-offish girl. No prizes for guessing where this goes. However, director John Carney manages to create a film with some verve. The several songs are quite listenable to and performed with gusto. One problem I did have though, was that I found the heavy Irish accents, all authentic I don't doubt, not always easy to decipher. At times some of the audience were laughing at lines delivered which I was unable to catch.

A pleasant enough film. I can't quite hold with it as being as remarkable as some reviews have suggested, but I did enjoy it considerably more than I anticipated.....................6.5.