Begin Again – Review by Frances Winston

Directed by: John Carney

Starring: Keira Knightley, Mark Ruffalo, Hailee Steinfeld, Adam Levine, James Corden, CeeLo Green, Catherine Keener

In cinemas July 11th

This film was always going to be scrutinised seeing as it marks Once director John Carney’s follow up to that hugely successful movie. Again he has stuck with a musical theme and while it may have a bigger budget and more well-known names than his first movie he has tried to maintain the kind of charm that endeared Once to audiences worldwide and caused it to take on a life of its own.

Knightley plays Greta, a songwriter who is nursing a broken heart after her pop star boyfriend Dave (Levine) cheats on her while he is on the road. While singing one of her songs in a New York bar she is spotted by washed up record producer Dan Mulligan (Ruffalo) who is having problems of his own dealing with a temperamental teenage daughter (Steinfeld) and losing his job at the record company he co-founded.

He hears something in Greta’s music and attempts to get his former label to sign her and they agree to consider it if they can produce a proper demo. With no budget for a recording Dan decides to use the city as her studio and the pair, along with a motley crew of musicians embark on a journey to make an album that is a love song to the city.

When I heard Knightley was going to do her own singing in this I shuddered but her voice is OK if a bit thin. However she is a difficult actress to warm to which does affect how much you root for her character. Ruffalo on the other hand is brilliant as Dan whose talent as a producer is matched only by his propensity for self destruction. He really embodies the character and it is his character’s passion that really drives this movie.

Along the way there are some decent cameos. Levine is OK as Greta’s wayward boyfriend and CeeLo Green basically plays a version of himself. James Corden does his usual cheeky chappie turn as Greta’s friend Steve while Catherine Keener is solid as always playing Dan’s ex-wife Miriam.

However, the real stars here are the songs and they have already won awards. They are all very sweet and pleasant and when they are played at full pelt sound catchy enough. There isn’t another Falling Slowly here but they are unlikely to offend anybody. The cinematography is also beautiful and New York looks amazing here although I would question some of Carney’s editing choices.

I enjoyed this far more than I expected to. It doesn’t really take you on a roller coaster ride of emotion but it does leave you with a smile on your face. There are some rather contrived plot points but on the whole this is a solid second offering from Carney and if he can build on this with his forthcoming movie Sing Street he could well have a long and prosperous career as a writer/director ahead of him.