Watch on Apple TV+
Written by: John Carney
Directed by: John Carney
Starring: Eve Hewson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Orén Kinlan, Jack Reynor
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
Flora is a single mom at war with her son, Max. Trying to find a hobby for Max, she rescues a guitar from a dumpster and finds that one person's trash can be a family's salvation.
Verdict
It's a movie about a struggling family, but it certainly has its moments. This is teenage angst amplified. Flora and her son don't get along, and they can be quite mean to each other, but they find a common interest in music. The songs we hear are pretty good, though I would have like additional songs. It ends really well, though it could have ended even stronger.
It depends.
Review
We first see Flora (Eve Hewson) out partying. We don't think much of it when she stays out late, until we realize she has a son. He's in some trouble, and it certainly seems like the reason for that could be an inattentive mother. It's a difficult situation for both of them. Flora had her son Max (Orén Kinlan) at a young age, and it doesn't seem like she has a lot of support. She decides to find Max a hobby to keep him out of trouble. While Max isn't interested in guitar, Flora decides to take online lessons.
She wades through guitar videos online where people state it will take forever to learn or the lessons are too advanced. She stumbles upon a video from Jeff (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), stating knowing a little can take you far with guitar. She takes lessons online and Jeff is certainly skilled and affable. They're having a moment before Flora goofs off and Jeff cuts class short.
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| Eve Hewson, Orén Kinlan play Flora, Max |
To overcome the limitations of online learning with two characters, this uses a trick where Jeff appears in the same room with Flora. It works quite well. It also emphasizes the connection they have.
With Flora's new appreciation for music, she and Max bond over the rap music he's making. It's such a nice moment when we've seen how acerbic their relationship can be. She gives Max tips on his song, and then helps Jeff with a song he shared. Flora made both songs much better. While Flora and Jeff get personal, I'm not sure they'd be this open through a computer. From an audience perspective it's more intimate because we see them together which isn't reality. The movie doesn't try to make Flora likable. She's often crass, but you like her more as she helps Jeff and Max with their music. We see that she's willing to help Max make a music video even if it is silly.
Music becomes important for Flora and her son. Jeff, who had given up writing music, also finds new motivation. This has a nice moment where Jeff remotely joins Flora and Max in a local band competition. It's a fun scene, though I thought it would do more with Jeff. He was barely there, relegated to a laptop. It would be too much to have him there in person with the trick we've seen earlier, but maybe this could have put him on a projector screen so he has more of a presence.
This is one of the better musical type movies, and the couple of songs we do hear are pretty good, but I wish this had songs as engrossing as the ones features in Sing Street, which also features a few surreal moments involving music.
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