Sing Street

Nostalgia likes to refurbish the past into something more razzle-dazzle than it was, and that’s what Irish writer-director John Carney does to the 1980s with Sing Street. Spruced up with classic ’80s pop hits and jaunty original songs, the musical drama is like a 106-minute music video of the wacky decade.

The movie (rated PG-13 for vulgarities, juvenile bullying, and teen smoking) whisks us back to 1985 Dublin, in an era of kaleidoscopic self-expression when women wore gaudy eye shadow and cotton-candy hair—as did the male rock stars. It’s also a decade in which MTV popularized synth-pop bands that pushed artistic and moral boundaries with their lurid, surreal music videos. With such role models, it’s no wonder 15-year-old Catholic schoolboy Conor (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) decides the best way to impress beautiful, model-wannabe Raphina (Lucy Boynton) is to star her in his music video. Never mind that he doesn’t even have a band, or that the girl has her sultry eyes set high on London—such obstacles fizzle under the supreme force of teen fantasy. Within days, Conor scrabbles together a decidedly uncool, pubescent ensemble of pipsqueaks and dorks.

Though the film is light and humorous, brief glimpses of realism—financial and marital problems, mental illness, domestic abuse—occasionally slip out, until the characters retreat into their world of music, costumes, and romance. While Raphina covers her naïveté with sophisticated makeup, Conor experiments with his newfound identity as a “serious artist” by borrowing fashion cues from Dracula. During this period of soul searching, Conor shares his most sincere moments with his older brother Brendan (Jack Reynor), a college dropout who plays a mentor role.

Sing Street is delightful so long as you don’t take it too seriously. The boy-meets-girl storyline is as predictable as its “just follow your dreams” theme, but the tunes outshine everything else. If you’ve ever appreciated music from Duran Duran, The Cure, and Hall & Oates, this movie is for you.