The Best Movie of 2016

The best movie of 2016 wasn’t about a war hero with conscientious objections, or aliens named Abbott and Costello too stubborn to learn English, or the slumdog millionaire looking for his long-lost brother, or Ben Affleck’s long-lost brother working on his Southie accent, or African-Americans in Pittsburgh, Miami, and Langley VA struggling to attain respect and dignity, or White Millennials in La La Land struggling to be cute. It wasn’t even Hell or High Water, which, if there were a God, would nab the Oscar for best picture, but in reality doesn’t have a prayer.

The best movie of 2016 was Sing Street.

Let’s repeat that. The best movie of 2016 was Sing Street…

… starring Ferdia Walsh-Peelo. Yes, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo. A 17-year old Irish kid and a bright star on the horizon.

A pair of caveats. First, this is an OPINION. (But hey, when have we been wrong?) Second, by “best” movie of 2016 we mean the one we left the theater saying: “That’s the best picture we’ve seen all year.” We went to lots of movies last year and don’t remember saying that about any other film, so there you have it: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE.

And here’s the best part. If you haven’t seen Sing Street yet (and you probably haven’t as it’s barely grossed $3 million domestic) IT’S ON NETFLIX! So you can stream it any time your heart desires.

The best movie of the year… plus it’s free… How can you beat that?

This hidden gem has a 96 Percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes (La La Land has a 93, Casablanca a 97) and, despite the humble box office, was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Picture: Musical or Comedy. It lost to La La Land (of course, what hasn’t), no doubt because, other than some Irishman on the nominating committee, no one had ever heard of it.

What to expect.

It’s Irish. It has a plot so predictable my dog figured it out. It’s packed with GREAT music. IT IS UNABASHEDLY FORMULATED TO MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD.

The main character’s father is played by Aiden Gillen, who plays Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish on Game of Thrones. 

His mother is played by Maria Doyle Kennedy, who played Natalie Murphy in The Commitments, which, coincidentally, was the best movie of 1991 (also an Irish musical) and the spiritual forebear of Sing Street.

The movie was written and directed by John Carney who gave us Once and Begin Again, two delightful films with a combined Rotten Tomatoes rating of 180 percent.

Here’s the trailer:

Oh, and the SECOND BEST movie of 2016: Hunt for the Wilderpeople, which, according to Rotten Tomatoes, ranks right up there with Casablanca (and stars a 14-year-old actor from New Zealand named Julian Dennison, another bright star on the horizon).

© 2017 Ron Dulaney