band of Ireland

Rating: 9/10 (27 August 2016)

If you only hear about John Carney's "Sing Street" you might think that it has the same story as "The Commitments". They do have similar plots but go in their own directions. This one incorporates the theme of the bullied kid. In this case, a boy gets moved to a new school in 1980s Dublin and starts a band. The movie at once serves as a coming-of-age story and also a look at its era. The mom mentions that Ireland doesn't allow divorce (it now does).
I thought that the most impressive scene was the "Back to the Future" sequence, where the principal dances (naturally it turns out to be in the boy's imagination). When you look at the kind of school that this is - and what a jerk the principal is - it's understandable why he and his friends decide to start a band. There has to be a way for people to unleash their creativity, especially under these circumstances.
Basically, this movie is worth seeing. I now want to see Carney's earlier "Once", which won an Academy Award for Best Original Song (most people probably didn't expect it to win since Disney's "Enchanted" was also nominated in that category).
I recommend it.