Directed by: John Carney.
Written by: John Carney.
Starring: Keira Knightley (Gretta), Mark Ruffalo (Dan), Adam Levine (Dave), James Corden (Steve), Hailee Steinfeld (Violet), Yasiin Bey (Saul), Catherine Keener (Miriam), CeeLo Green (Troublegum).
John
Carney’s debut film – Once (2007) – was a charming pretty much perfect little
film about two unknown musicians who slowly fall in love while working together
– although that love is not as clichéd you would think. It’s taken him a number
of years to follow up Once – and the result is Begin Again – which kind of plays
like Once, had a studio executive gotten a hold of script before it was shot
and made some suggestions. Instead of Dublin, it’s in New York. Instead of two
unknown musicians, we have two Oscar nominees – Keira Knightley as Gretta, an
unknown singer-songwriter and Mark Ruffalo as a music exec down on his luck.
Instead of her boyfriend being unseen – as in Once – he’s a rock star, played
by a rock star (Adam Levine) – who cheated on her, and she’s now stuck in New
York with no one to help her. And he is trying to reconnect with his ex-wife
(Catherine Keener) and his teenage daughter – Hailee Steinfeld. Throw in a
British reality star (James Corden), another rock star (CeeLo Green) – and a
gimmick – together the two record an album outside, using the sounds of New
York as a backdrop for her songs. Amazingly, despite this,
and the fact the songs aren’t as good as they were in Once, Begin Again still
works. It`s not as good as Once, but it`s a damn good feel good movie.
A lot of that is because of the charm of the two
leads. Keira Knightley is delightful as Gretta – she is instantly lovable, with
her cute accent, her pretty singing voice, and her catchy songs. She wants to
make it in the music business – but wants to do it because of her music, not
her image. Ruffalo is a natural at playing scruffy, and he`s in fine form as
Dan, who is a drunk, just off a nervous breakdown, who has lost his job, his
marriage and his daughter – and sees Gretta as his ticket to getting some of
that back. The two have an instant chemistry together, although it never really
gets romantic – although there is a near miss. Instead, the two share something
deeper than that. The songs, performed around New York, are good, without ever
raising to the level of Falling Slowly in Once.
The supporting cast is fine. Levine, making his acting
debut, probably doesn’t have to stretch himself too much to play Dan – the
asshole rock star – but he`s fine. Hailee Steinfeld is a typical teenage girl,
but plays it well. Everyone else does a fine job as well.
There is nothing deep about Begin Again. It wants to
be a feelgood movie, using music as a way of connecting to the audience. It
works because of the charm of the film, even if it never really becomes all
that believable. The performances are good, the music is good, and the film
does precisely what it wants to do – send the audience out feeling good. That
doesn’t make it a great movie, but it does make it a fun one.
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