SING STREET

This Irish musical comedy-drama set in Dublin 1985 is a delightful coming-of-age film which concerns the awkwardness of first love, aspirations for a better life and faded dreams.

Cosmo (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) is a 15-year-old boy who forms a band to impress Raphina (Lucy Boynton) a 16-year-old mystery girl who aspires to be a model. From school dag to punkster he transcends, the excitement of the band and his new found love a welcoming deterrence from the hardships he’s experiencing at home.

Detracting are some of the strong Irish accents, which are incomprehensible at times, and the initial slow pace of the story, but interest builds once the band forms and play an array of catchy new songs written especially for the film. A great selection of hits from popular bands of the 80’s including Duran Duran, The Cure, Spandau Ballet and The Clash are also included on the soundtrack and add to the 80’s atmosphere to the film.

Ultimately this is an entertaining, feel-good film and romantics should be extremely satisfied by the predictable and highly improbable, sugar-sweet conclusion. (MMo)

★★★1/2