Begin Again - brief

Rating: 8/10 (1 December 2014)

Two broken souls meet, help each other stand, then run. Both are bruised artists, victims of commercialization over integrity. Keira Knightley plays the dumped girlfriend (and songwriter) of singer boyfriend, who is catching fire. Mark Ruffalo pitch perfect as music exec, once edgy, once influential, now living in failure. Exquisite location filming in New York as the two record, guerrilla style, in subway, in Central Park, in alleys. Music is quite good, by the way. Knightley sings her own. Her voice, somewhere between twee and shoegaze, is well suited to her character and songs. Not a love story, but a tale of redemption. Great date film, nevertheless.