Sean O’Malley (Maguire) is the son of a famous musician, a man who played with the greats, he doesn’t seem to be quite as gifted, but when Amy (Anderson) arrives into his life he falls in love and everything changes. The young lovers plan marriage against the wishes of Amy’s father, as she choses Sean instead of a job offer in New York. The night before the wedding the two enjoy a few drinks with their respective friends only for things to get out of hand. The resulting fallout has damaging effects on both and they drift apart leaving Sean recording the songs that he feels are the only way to communicate his heartbreak.
Homer Simpson once said that alcohol was the cause of and solution to all of life’s problems and it appears this statement was taken to heart when developing the idea for Songs for Amy. Alcohol is consumed ad-nauseam whether it is a celebration or disaster, while it also appears that no one is empowered with the ability to learn their lesson from drinking and the impact that it has. Add to the mess a number of incomplete storylines that pop up merely to suit the rest of the story and the mess is complete.
The characters are quite unimaginative as they follow really obvious stereotypes; mad drummer; fame obsessed bass player; alcoholic lead singer and so on. It’s very hard to root for Sean as he writes all these love songs about his broken heart, because it’s his own fault in the first place. It doesn’t help that in the majority of cases the delivery is not at the desired standard with the exception of Anderson who acquits herself well, despite the poor script.
The centrepiece of the entire endeavour is the music and in honesty it’s not close to the desired standard in any sense. It is full of clichéd, unimaginative lyrics and Maguire is not a gifted singer no matter how hard he tries. The only success in the mix is the cinematography that consistently delivers, with the exception of one over the top effort involving the Burren and a loan gray horse.
Subpar in many respects, Songs for Amy is an unfortunate mess.