great film, great music

Rating: 7/10 (5 September 2014)

"Begin Again" is the story of how an ex-music producer, who is down on his luck, and a singer/songwriter, who is about to give up on her aspirations, meet and produce an album together. The film begins with Gretta (the singer/songwriter's) performance at a local bar. She is hesitant to play, and doesn't receive much of a crowd reaction. Then, we quickly jump back to earlier that day. Dan, the ex-music producer, wakes up, and we soon learn he is an alcoholic. We see he has an awkward relationship with his daughter, and he gets fired from the music label he founded. Dan obviously has major problems in his life. At the end of the day, after a day of drinking he goes to a bar. Not really paying attention to the music, he becomes mesmerized with Gretta's song. This is the beginning of their relationship. He envisions the same song she sings, but with a full band of accompaniments. After her performance, Dan approaches her, and asks her to sign with his record label. She tells him she'll consider. We then learn that Gretta was in New York City with her boyfriend, Dave. Dave was just about to make it big, and tours the states. Gretta becomes lonely, and learns that Dave had an affair with someone involved with Dave's record label. Gretta leaves Dave, and is about to buy plane tickets back home when her good friend convinces her to come to open mic night at a bar. Then we fast forward to Dan getting a call from Gretta telling him she is interested. The rest of the film is about them recording her new album, and Dan getting his life and family back together. Time is greatly manipulated. The exposition takes place with Gretta performing at the bar. Then we rewind to that morning, and see Dan's day. Then we go back about a few weeks or so and witness Gretta and Dave moving in to the city and growing apart, until he cheats on her. Then the next few weeks are sped up. Time is rewound and condensed in this movie. This film was written and directed by John Carney. Carney also wrote and directed, "Once," another musically involved movie. Mark Ruffalo plays Dan and Keira Knightley portrays Gretta. Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine plays Dave, Gretta's boyfriend. Keira Knightley and Adam Levine actually perform the songs they play in the film. A major theme present in this movie is family, friendship and togetherness. Dan manages to become a part in his daughter's life, and eventually get back together with his wife. The family was able to stick together, despite awkwardness, a falling out, and cheating. Gretta leaves her boyfriend, Dave, after he cheats on her. When she starts working with Dan he becomes a close friend. At certain points during the latter part of the film, it almost appears as though she loved him, and he loved her. As far as we could tell though, Gretta and Dan do not end up together. Another theme in this movie is perseverance. Dan loses his job, but still earns to find the next popular star. Gretta is reluctant to make an album with Dan, but his willingness and determination in her, and her music proved to her that she should persevere and record the album. This movie is pretty believable. On the Scale of Verisimilitude it would be placed slightly to the photo-realism side of the middle. The only scene in that is fantastical, is the when Dan watches Gretta play at open-mic night for the first time. He visualizes other instruments playing with her. This scene is very interesting and entertaining. The genre of this movie is Sentimentalism. It is about a family sticking together after going through tough times. The most important element of drama in this movie is its plot. The story of this movie is original and keeps the audience entertained. The secondary element of drama in the movie is its characters. Dan is a multi-dimensional man, who changes his life around and becomes a happier person. Gretta is an interesting and talented musician who independently writes great music. Dan begins as a slacker, alcoholic, and lazy man, who simply cannot seem to maintain anything of sustenance in his life. His encounters with Gretta, and spending more time with his daughter change him. He becomes helpful, fun and romantic. He also sheds his addiction to alcohol and gets his job back at his record label. The major dramatic question of "Begin Again" is what happens next? We see that the album Dan and Gretta produced has been released. We know that Dan and his wife seem to have gotten back together. We know the Dan got his job back. The album is also making tremendous sales. However, we know very little about what Gretta plans to do. It seems unlikely that she'll end up with Dave, but she might go back home. Dan's ex-marriage and his daughter's relationship with him, and Gretta coping with Dave's absence. This film satisfies the dual purpose of art. It both entertains and instructs. It arouses emotions like happiness and joy when the music is playing. It also asks questions, and provokes thought. We question the different character's motivations for doing things from time to time. This movie is fabulous. Its characters have clever and witty dialogue. They seem like real people. They use profanity and speak their minds. Dan treats his daughter like an adult and speaks to her like such. He progressively becomes a better parent and uses better language towards her, and the rest of the characters in the film. Dan's idea to record the album in the streets of New York is ingenious. Keira Knightley is an amazing singer, and an extremely convincing Gretta. This entire movie is entertaining and exciting. This film offers an incredible look into the music industry. This is one of the best movies so far of 2014.