Good music and setting, but lacks in story

Rating: 6/10 (7 August 2016)

I wanted to enjoy Sing Street - what's not to love about a story of a teenage band in the era of some of the best British music? Unfortunately, the overall story disappoints, with a shambling plot, underdeveloped characters and a confusing ending.
Mainly it suffers from trying to be too many things at once. Sing Street has elements of kid-vs- bully, kid-vs-bully-teacher, punk-kid-vs-society, kid-vs-parents, kid-trying-to-get-the-girl . . . And then the film surprises us almost at the end by revealing itself as more of a big-brother-mentor story. Too many threads, too many messages. It would have been much better for the subplots to remain in the sideline. That's the magic of film - some small suggestions of the parents' divorce, for example, would have set the scene fine without having to show us everything. If the story had just focused on the one journey of the kid trying to woo the girl, it would have been far more successful. It felt like there was too much unnecessary drama, and too little lighthearted musical fun.
As for the characters, the main kid's motivation wasn't convincing. He suddenly decides to start a band with some people he doesn't know, just to impress the girl? And all he knows about pop music is what his brother told him the night before, which he parrots to his new-found friends. If he was a true music lover from the start, perhaps his character would have been more likable and relatable. The other characters are mere cardboard cutouts. Teenage characters can be really cool and convincing, like the hilarious gang in JJ Abram's 'Super 8', but Sing Street's teens had no personality at all. You don't even find out the love interest's name til halfway through, and although she's supposed to be mysterious, it ends up taking away from the character.
The ending of Sing Street was unconvincing as well. What, these two fifteen-year-olds are just going to drive a little boat all the way from Dublin to England? This kid who never showed an interest in music at the start of the film is going to try forge a career as a singer/songwriter in London? Sorry, but it was totally unsatisfying. It should have ended with them running away into the night with the city lights behind them, just as the love interest alluded to earlier.
There are some cool songs in here, except the finale song wasn't quite as awesome and climactic as some of the others. It was cool to see and recognise bands and stuff from that era, and I guess the film was entertaining. I recommend skipping the intense, uncomfortable drama and just watching the "Riddle of the Model" music video scene on YouTube instead.