"Begin Again" is "Once" again but better

Rating: Null/10 (22 July 2014)

I loved this movie. From beginning to end, a smile rarely left my face. OK, so it's essentially a remake of "Once" (2007) with the same writer and director (Irishman John Carney) and the same story (a man and a younger woman from another country meeting in a major city of the guy's nation and uniting to create unconventional music). I actually enjoyed "Begin Again" more than "Once". The earlier film was shot on an almost non-existent budget with camcorders, whereas this one has a decent budget and much more professional production values; I think New York is snazzier than Dublin (I've been to both about half a dozen times); and Mark Ruffalo as the guy and Keira Knightley as the girl are much better actors than ... (exactly - who remembers them?).
The movie has a smart opening with beautiful Knightley as the British singer- songwriter Gretta giving an open-mic performance of one of her songs before meeting charming Ruffalo as a washed-up American A & R man Dan before the film backtracks twice to show us how each of these very different characters came to be at this place at this time. In a similar fashion to my wife (who can view a room and mentally refurnish and even redesign it), Dan can visualise how Geta's song would come over with full backing musicians and a revised arrangement.
The songs - written by Gregg Alexander of New Radicals - are good, but it is Knightley who is the surprise. Although she is married to a rock and roll player, she is outside of her comfort song here, but she learned to play the guitar for the role and sings well (as indeed she did in "The Edge Of Love").