Good Music & Story

Rating: 7/10 (14 July 2014)

I saw "Begin Again", starring Mark Ruffalo-Bruce Banner in the Avengers movies, 13 Going on 30; Keira Knightley-Jack Ryan:Shadow Recruit, Domino; Adam Levine-the Maroon 5 singer that you might have also seen in American Horror Story_t.v., 30 Rock_t.v. and Hailee Steinfeld-Ender's Game, True Grit_2010.
This is a story about a journey on the road to fame and success in the music business. Mark plays a burned-out record producer that has come on hard times. He used to be pretty good at his job but after some personal family problems, he started to drink a lot, and eventually lost his job. Hailee is his teen-aged daughter that is acting out in rebellion because she needs a father for guidance. Keira and Adam are a couple that have been dating since college and both have dreams of becoming famous in the music business-they are both singer/song writers. Adam gets his shot before Keira and takes off for fame and riches without her. Mark hears Keira in a small bar singing and spots the potential for great success, so he offers to produce her music for an album but she is not sure if she should trust him; he looks like a drunk, homeless man. The story line is not too original-I'm sure I've heard versions of it before-but the story is not too predictable and I enjoyed the music. Keira learned to play guitar for the role and I think I heard her say in an interview that she did her own singing-which, if it's true, is not too shabby. It's rated "R" for the language and has a running time of 1 hour & 44 minutes. I enjoyed it enough that I would probably buy it on DVD.