An Un-authentic Movie about Authenticity

Rating: 6/10 (30 October 2014)

John Carney pulled off a miracle with ONCE, a romantic fable fueled by charming acting performances and genuinely beautiful and passionate, original music. In my recollection, it is the one and only film that made me cry — not solely because I cared so much for its characters, but because I didn't want my all-too-brief glimpse into their world to end. The fact that Carney pulled this off for a paltry $100,000 resulting in an Academy Award winning song and a Broadway musical only makes his feat that much more miraculous.
So, I was eagerly anticipating BEGIN AGAIN. Maybe my expectations were too high. You can't fault the acting performances in Carney's second peek into the world of contemporary music. Mark Ruffalo is, as always, multi-layered and heartfelt. His plight, as an alcoholic, divorced A&R man/failed father on the skids is vividly drawn. And, if those personal flaws weren't enough to doom his career, his idealistic, bull-headed insistence on working with "authentic" artists in an era of derivative, technologically manufactured music pushes him right up to the edge of precarious cliff.
And, here is exactly where film dooms itself. In Ruffalo's Dan and Keira Knightly's Gretta, Carney has written two characters who refuse to compromise the integrity of their work. This conceit demands that the script, the casting, and the entire ambiance of the film be authentic -- which it simply isn't.
In ONCE, the lead actors Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova were real, professional singer/songwriters. They wrote and performed their own songs with complete conviction. To play Gretta, Knightly had to "learn" guitar, which she mimes, but only barely. Her voice is unexceptional, not one that would believably attract Dan to risk his last chance on. And, most importantly, BEGIN AGAIN's songs are at best okay, in total unremarkable.
The idea that Gretta and this thrown-together band could actually record state-of-the-art live performances in public places in New York City is technically possible, but pragmatically preposterous. And, if Dan is truly striving for authenticity, recording Gretta in a cheap digital format would be the last way he would go.
Movies about music performance and production are, more often than not, shot without much attention to how it really happens. Directors usually get away with it because the public at large doesn't know any better. Cameron Crowe's brilliant ALMOST FAMOUS is an example of a film that absolutely nailed it. It's disappointing to see a film that pontificates about authenticity, yet fails so miserably to achieve it.
The fine actors in this film all have their moments. Regardless of her musical shortcomings, Knightly exudes enormous charm. Adam Levine is surprisingly genuine and believable. Up and comer Hailee Steinfeld and the invariably wonderful Catherine Keener are excellent. The most-deft supporting performance is turned in by Mos Def.
I do have to complement Carney that his script resists the temptation to allow Dan and Gretta to succumb to their obvious attraction to one another. However, for Gretta to choose to virtually "give" downloads of her album away for a dollar states nothing. It only reinforces the old saying, "I bought it for a song." Music is a treasure that should be valued. Music enriches our lives. There is no integrity in an "artist" giving his or her work away, especially after a group of dedicated musicians (with a piece of the back end) devoted so much sweat equity into realizing those songs.
With BEGIN AGAIN, John Carney has once again proved he is capable of writing charming characters and excellent dialog. Let's hope he endeavors to take his next story outside of the music business.