Begin Again is the latest offering from writer/director John Carney, who is most known for doing the Irish romantic musical performance smash-hit Once. The movie is stylistically very similar to Once, with the one big exception being that instead of exploring Dublin, this movie takes us around New York City. Also, instead of going with musicians and making them actors like Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, Carney takes actress Keira Knightley and turns her into a singer (and a really good one at that).
The movie tells the story of a down on his luck former record executive, Steve (Mark Ruffalo), who walks into an open mic singer-songwriter night and discovers a young singer, Greta (Knightley), whom he sees enormous potential in and reignites his passion for music. Greta becomes hesitant to record an album after seeing how it screwed up her relationship with her ex-boyfriend who made it big, Dave Kohl (Adam Levine).
First of all, I was completely blown away by the film. I had high hopes because I was a huge fan of Once, but this movie far exceeded my expectations and showed major growth of John Carney as a filmmaker and storyteller. I loved the way the relationships were handled in the movie between all of these characters as there was such a delicate balance and realism that really added to the entire picture. The actors give great performances, especially the always exceptional Mark Ruffalo and provides occasional great comedic ability along with a deep believable sadness. For having a limited acting resume, Adam Levine impressed me greatly and Keira Knightley gives one of her greatest performances to date.
The songs, like Once, were primarily about falling in love, being in love, and then falling out of love, and did a great job capturing the emotions of the characters and expounding upon the story. Not only that, but the original songs they made for the movie were really good, especially Greta's. Dave Kohl's music sounded very much like Maroon 5, which isn't surprising, but since I'm not a Maroon 5 fan, I did not enjoy those songs as much. Keira Knightley has a great voice for the role and shockingly does her own singing in the movie, even though most people leaving the theater thought she didn't and were shocked to find out she did, even me.
The movie deals a lot with the struggles of record companies as part of the beginning of the movie is coming up with a way to get people to buy more music. They explore different options like audio commentaries, when the movie gives you the answer, make music that people will want to listen to instead of overproduced musical garbage that dominates much of the current marketplace. It also deals with the authenticity of both the music and musicians
While Chef has stolen the headlines as the indie darling movie of the summer, I think it has a lot of competition in Begin Again. This movie is like if Once made an awesome baby with High Fidelity. I was completely blown away by the movie. Rarely do I leave the theater and I say that I loved a movie, this was one of those rare exceptions.
Rating: 5 out of 5.
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