Writer/director John Carney has found quite a comfortable niche crafting dramedies with a strong musical element. He broke out in 2007 with "Once" (which took home an Academy Award for Best Original Song) and a couple years back, was far less successful with music industry tale "Begin Again." Now, he’s headed to the Sundance Film Festival with this latest, "Sing Street," and he’s hoping to hit all the right notes once again.
Starring Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Lucy Boynton, Jack Reynor, Aidan Gillen, and Mark McKenna, the ’80s-set story follows a young teenager who starts a band, and finds inspiration and romance. Here’s the official synopsis:
With 1980s Dublin mired in recession, Conor’s parents move him from a comfortable private school to a rough inner-city public school where the scrappy 14-year-old forms a band. Mentored by his older brother, a dropout who’s hip to cool tunes, Conor starts to compose lyrics and the glam-ish band finds its “no covers” groove. Renaming himself Cosmo, he convinces the mysterious, über-cool Raphina to star in their music videos (and tries to win her heart in the process).
"Sing Street" opens in the U.K. on March 18th. The Weinstein Company will release the film stateside. Watch below.