Whole more than the sum of the parts ... it works

Rating: 8/10 (2 September 2014)

In spite of a number of structural and script flaws, this tasty little gem works as well or better than any half-dozen "feel good" films that wandered out of Hollywood in the last few years. Recommended.
(One example: a key script point is when one of the characters leaves a "voice message" for another which is actually an entire song. There isn't a voice mail system on the planet which would accept that length of message. Another oddity is the casting of Hailee Steinfeld as a statuesque 14 year old teenager, a casting choice made all the stranger by the fact that she was 17 at the time of filming and looked like she was in her late 20s. In fact this actress, who played the lead in TRUE GRIT at age 13, should have a patent on looking older than she is.)
The good news? Much the same way that John Carney's script emphasizes vision as the key ingredient for a successful song, his own vision is more than enough to compensate for some of the strangeness here, and the film works very much in the style of those classic British comedies of manners we don't see much of anymore (a la 3 Weddings...) Other notes for the die-hard fans:
* Knightly and Ruffalo spent much of their careers making other actors look good. Nice to see them get a chance to make themselves look good
* Wow. Who knew Adam Levine could act? Fact is, he is a natural and comes across better here than as a judge in that infamous show. Can't say the same for Ceelo who is just as uncomfortable as an actor as he is in reality TV
* is there an award for best integrated closing credits? Not talking bloopers here, but scenes that run in the credits which actually complement the film ... best I have ever seen ... if all closing credits were this good, viewers would stay to the very end