The pointedly titled “Flora and Son” couldn’t be more straightforward. This confounding musical dramedy is every bit about a single mother named Flora and her rebellious 14-year-old son Max. Or is it? Set and filmed in Dublin, the story follows the pair’s strained relationship and shows how music unexpectedly ends up being the balm that heals their deep emotional wounds. It sounds sweet. But there are moments when the movie is anything but.

“Flora and Son” is the latest from writer-director John Carney. It’s his long awaited follow-up to the terrific “Sing Street”. The film builds itself around a heartfelt premise and it’s driven by a brilliant performance from Eve Hewson. It’s a movie that certainly has its funny exchanges and touching moments. But no matter how hard Carney tries, his latest effort is never as emotionally satisfying or infectiously charming as his 2016 gem.

Interestingly, it’s almost like “Flora and Son” is ashamed of what it actually is. You can see it working hard to not be viewed as a feel-good crowdpleaser by tossing in loads of salty language and by creating characters who teeter between sympathetic and insufferable. On the surface that might sound like a petty gripe. But it’s a problem that goes beyond mere movie optics. It impacts how we respond to the story and even the characters themselves.

Take Flora, played by an effortlessly great Hewson. It’s clear she’s intended to be a sympathetic and funny character. But too often Carney goes for cheap laughs by writing her as needlessly crude as possible. And while her son Max (played by a somewhat monotone Orén Kinlan) is ungrateful and disrespectful, Flora is routinely hateful and verbally abusive. Although I’m not sure that’s how the movie wants us to see her – it’s hard to tell.

As for the story, it’s about music mending the toxic relationship between a mother and son. After Max has yet another run-in with the law, the police encourage Flora to find her son a hobby – something to keep him from blowing his last chance to stay out of juvie. While walking home Flora finds an old beat-up acoustic guitar which she gives to Max. But after he shows no interest, she picks it up. And with the help of online guitar sessions from a washed-up musician from Los Angeles named Jeff (a terrific Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Flora finds unexpected joy in making music with her hunky new teacher.

Flora’s newfound interest in music opens her eyes to Max’s desire to be a rapper and DJ. The inevitable come-together moment that follows is a little too tidy and Carney passes on some emotional complexities that would have given him the chance to explore some interesting ground. Still Hewson earns our investment, especially in her scenes with Gordon-Levitt. I just wish the rest of the movie worked as well as their scenes do.

Perhaps it’s unfair to keep bringing up “Sing Street”, but one of its biggest strengths was the original music from Carney and Gary Clark. The two collaborate again although none of these original songs leave much of an impression. Hewson and Gordon-Levitt have a good musical moment together yet it’s nothing as catchy as some of the tunes Carney and Clark have created in the past.

Perhaps most frustrating is how the mother-son relationship (which should be the heart of the movie) often gets back-burnered for Flora’s cutesy online coquetry with Jeff. They end up feeling like two competing storylines rather than combining into something more organic and cohesive. That’s a shame. Overall, “Flora and Son” left me longing for the movie it almost was. “Flora and Son” is streaming now on Apple TV+.

VERDICT – 2 STARS