Delightful and charming

Rating: 9/10 (18 July 2014)

In the years since A&R man and record producer Dan (Mark Ruffalo) co-founded his indie record company, he has lost his way: he is estranged from his wife and daughter, he has had no musical success for some while, and he drinks far too much. After a day when all his lows get even lower, is in a bar on open mike night and hears something special in a song played by Gretta (Keira Knightley). She is an English girl, alone in New York after her boyfriend and writing partner unexpectedly hits it big after his music is used in a hit film, only for fame to go to his head. Dan persuades Gretta to let him produce an album for her, recorded live in outdoor locations around New York.
That synopsis is conveyed by the trailer and, sure enough, that is pretty much what the film delivers. It gives advance notice of being an amiable sort of affair, albeit without falling obviously into an identifiable category (and rightly so - it is best described as a light drama with elements of comedy, romance, and music). And it starts out being exactly what you expect.
And then something happens. It's not that it springs any great surprises on you plot-wise (although you are not entirely sure how it will end: thankfully, it avoids travelling in one of several directions which would have been very very wrong), it's more that it assaults you with charm in a very gentle way and, well before it reaches halfway, you realise that you are actually enjoying this (somewhat improbable) tale a great deal.
Why is this? Well, part of the reason is that both Ruffalo and Knightley deliver engaging performances: these two rather lost characters enable each other to find themselves, albeit through unlikely means. And they are given sterling support by James Corden (as Gretta's fellow ex-pat pal), Catherine Keener and Hailey Steinfeld (as Dan's wife and daughter) and Adam Levine (as the not entirely unsympathetic boyfriend Dave.
The music is pleasant enough without being exceptional (with one or two very enjoyable musical sequences), and Keira Knightley turns out to have a pleasing, if delicate, singing voice.
My sole criticism is that there is a fair amount of bad language in it and virtually all of it serves no dramatic or narrative purpose, and is accordingly completely unnecessary.
I recommend this.