Pleasant Film

Rating: 7/10 (7 September 2014)

John Carney's Begin Again is a nice little somewhat "feel good" musical set in New York. The film features some very good performances and the songs are also memorable and well written.
Begin Again tells the story of Greta (played by Keira Knightley) and her boyfriend/college sweetheart, named Dave (played by Adam Levine of Maroon 5 and The Voice making his feature film debut), who are songwriter partners. Their relationship hits a rocky road when Dave lands a major deal in Los Angeles and strays away from Greta, leaving her on her own. She is discovered on an east village stage by a washed up divorced record label executive named Dan (played by Mark Ruffalo), who takes to her talent and tries to make her a name. As the two begin their collaboration, they run into some problems along the way.
There are some clear character arcs in the story as well. Dan, for example, goes from being an unlikeable drunk who is a disgraced and fired record producer, to having his job back, as well as improving his relationship with his daughter. Similarly, Greta goes from being a love-struck songwriter with no real ambitions to being an ambitious songwriter/singer who can clearly think on her own. The stories of these two characters parallel each other well. Other character arcs include Dan's daughter, Violet (played by Hailee Steinfeld), who seems to have limited screen time (disappearing after the first ten minutes and not reappearing until an hour in), going from an angst-ridden daughter to discovering her talents for playing guitar. While Dave, Greta's lover, goes from being an ambitious songwriter/singer to understanding just what fame is doing to him, in a story-arc that is almost like the opposite of Greta's.
The acting in the film is very good. Mark Ruffalo has gained some weight, and is showing his age. When he talks to Knightley near the end of the film and says "you know nothing", he delivers that line with such energy and force, it is terrific. Keira Knightly herself comes off as rather bitchy at the beginning of the film, but by the end, she develops into a finer character, even if her performance at times can feel emotionless. Hailee Steinfeld, as Ruffalo's daughter, is wasted and brings nothing to the table. Similarly, Catherine Keener is wasted as Ruffalo's ex, and her character is treated like your typical divorced nagging ex-wife. In his major film debut, singer Adam Levine has a nice voice, but his performances are, at times, bland, though his scenes with Knightley do show good moments of acting. Additionally, of note in the cast are Mos Def (under the alias Yasiin Bey!!!) as the owner of the record studio and Ceelo Green as a character named Troublegum, as a performer (basically playing himself).
The songs are really nicely done. One of my favorite scenes in the film is when Knightley and Ruffalo are walking down the streets of New York and they manage to incorporate "Luck Be a Lady" by Frank Sinatra in a way that gave me a feeling of happiness and excitement. The majority of the original songs are written by Gregg Alexander and Nick Lashley (director John Carney himself contributed to two songs, including "Like a Fool" which has to do with trusting people. Knightley herself has a nice singing voice (having been trained by a voice specialist), and songs like "Lost Stars" and "A Higher Place" are good and having meaning. There are many good performances, even if some of the characters exist solely for the purpose of having real nice songs played. Given Carney's previous film, Once, one should probably not be surprised, as that film also dealt with music.
Begin Again has a very pleasing tone to it. The songs, along with the character arcs, contribute to the films overall style. Definitely worth checking out.