Knight's singing redeemed by acting; Ruffalo charms his way all through the movie

Rating: Null/10 (8 September 2014)

When Kevin Spacey appeared as Bobby Darin in "Beyond the sea" (2004), the consensus was that he would pass for the original when he sang. Likewise, Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon were equally impressive as Johnny Cash and June Carter, respectively, in "Walk the line" (2005). But we also had Jamie Foxx who wisely chose Ray Charles's original sound track. So how did Keira Knightly sing, as just a fictional character? She has not reached the bar set by the above-mentioned three. Still, she has a serviceable singing voice which is helped considerably by her clear diction. Putting the singing aside, it is good to see her break new grounds in acting.
Knightley plays Gretta who shares both a musical and a romantic partnership with Dave (real-life professional singer Adam Levine whose talent is utilized wisely with restraint as his is but a side character) in England. All goes well until he gets his break and goes to New York for some big time music adventure, with her tagging along. The rest is quite predictable as far as this half of the plot goes.
The other half centers around Dan (Mark Ruffalo, oozing such charm as only he can), one time record company executive now hitting a distressingly low point, both with career and family life. This unlikely odd couple hit it off and the mutual attraction is musically triggered more than anything else. Next thing you know they assemble an odd-ball team of musicians to launch a crazy project of recording an album outdoors all over the Big Apple, sort of a marriage of delightful music to the exciting vibe of the city. It works! There is your basic plot and as I faintly alluded to, not everything is predictable. The two leads carry the movie very capably but the marvelous support cast certainly didn't hurt.
Lovable James Cordon (I'm going to see him tomorrow in "One chance") is the buddy who takes Gretta in when she walks out of Dave in disgust, and helps her along with the project. Catherine Keener plays the estranged wife to Dan. She seems to like that role but quite unlike in "A late quartet" (2012) when the wife is the victim, it is the husband here. Really wonderful is Hailee Steinfeld (remember her Oscar nomination in "True grit" (2012)?) who nails the role of the neglected, hardened yet longing teenage daughter. Mos Def shuns his rapid-fire mouthing and plays Dan's co-founder of the record company, not really a bad guy but having the hard job of telling Dan that his he falling behind and losing touch with the current reality. In addition to Adam Levine, also from the real-life music scene is Ceelo Green who plays someone who owes his success to Dan and now rises to the occasion when asked to help.
Mostly (but not always)predictable and with some sweet moments, this movie is immensely enjoyable although musically, it hasn't quite reached the height of "Once".