Parents' Guide to Power Ballad

Rudd and Jonas prove to be an unexpected comic duet, bringing humor, heart, and heartache to a story that exposes how our creative output is truly a part of our being. Creativity is like an invisible organ, as vital to artists as a liver—it regenerates, and you can live without part of it, but when some of it is taken, the pain is excruciating. Some viewers might see Danny's lift of Rick's song as a betrayal of trust, but that's where director John Carney proves that he understands musicians. Drinking, drugs, hazy nights—who knows where a midnight jam session might go? And it's not that Rick trusts Danny, it's that, as another artist, he expects Danny to understand that you can't take someone's work, because it's a real part of them. But Carney lets viewers interpret the answers to the film's central question—did Danny realize he was plagiarizing Rick's song, or was it a tune that he found pinging in his brain and thought was his own?—themselves. In doing so, he doubles down on one of the movie's messages: The best lyrics can be applied different ways to different people in different situations, with each of us finding the meaning we want.

Some of the music world's most interesting duets, the ones that offer layers of intrigue, have come about when two voices from different eras and styles join together—think Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus, Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson. Power Ballad offers two personalities from two generations, with Rudd as a Pearl Jam-era rocker striking a chord with adults, and Jonas, who's been charting pop hits since 2005, hitting a high note as a boy bander for teens. Together, they make harmony, creating a hit for families with teens.