Music interspersed with a weak plot.

Rating: 4/10 (14 July 2014)

Short Version: Mark Ruffalo plays Dan, a music industry has-been, and he is dumped by the label he helped found. Keira Knightley is Gretta, a musician and dumped girlfriend of Adam Levine's Dave in the film. Dan and Gretta meet in a bar when Gretta's friend prods her onto the stage to play a song she wrote, and then the pair work to produce a demo album for the rest of the movie. Dan takes on the role of Gretta's mentor, which gets a little weird when he recreates his first date with his wife with her.
Dan is a rough-around-the-edges alcoholic and is on the outs with his estranged wife and daughter. Gretta is in recovery mode after Dave dumps her. Both characters are working to fix their relationship woes in the film subplots.
What sinks this film is weak story drivers. Dan lost his job, but so what? We find out he's tight with Cee Lo Green not far into the movie, and Cee Lo is more than willing to help him monetarily with the album he's working on. There's no big threat looming for him: Dan's wife and daughter aren't threatening to move far away if he doesn't straighten up. The IRS isn't hounding him for back taxes, so he really needs a big score or else. Gretta is in the same boat, plot-wise. Her ex-boyfriend is a jerk, so why would she need to get back in his good graces? There's nothing driving her.
Verdict: This film is maybe worth the money to watch if you only care about the music scenes. The plot behind the music is weak and drama-free, so for movie-goers looking for a real story, it might be better to avoid. That's hard to say, since I like Mark Ruffalo and Keira Knightley quite a bit.