The Independents (2018) ***

 

If you love music and the process of creating music, you definitely have to check out the films of Irish director John Carney. In films like “Once,” "Begin Again," and "Sing Street," he lovingly creates stories about artists finding one another and creating great songs. What's that you say? You are already a John Carney fan? Already watched all his movies? In that case, you need to check out “The Independents,” the best John Carney film not made by Jon Carney.

Greg Naughton, 1/3 of the real-life musical trio The Sweet Remains, wrote and directed the film, which is loosely based on his band's origin story. He plays himself in the film, as do the other 2 Sweet Remains members, Rich Price and Brian Chartrand. It's a sweet story about 3 guys whose lives are screwed up in different ways, saving themselves by finding their musical soulmates. The story and performances are decent, but the real draw is the music. With their acoustic sound and 3-part harmonies, The Sweet Remains sound great, and the movie makes the process of creating those songs look delightfully effortless. Truth is, I couldn't remember any of the individual songs by the end, but they sounded epic while they were being made!

3 stars out of 5