Begin Again– Review by Frank L.

Directed by John Carney
Writer: John Carney
Stars: Keira Knightley, Mark Ruffalo, Adam Levine

Greta (Keira Knightley) and Dave (Adam Lane), lovers and songwriters/singers, arrive in New York. Dave is the more successful of the two, having made it to the verge of the big time. Pretty soon his nascent success creates fractures in the relationship and Greta moves out of their hip apartment. Greta is therefore alone in New York and gravitates to the lower east side. By chance and with considerable luck, she meets an old English friend who is busking outside a subway station. He provides a sofa for her on which to sleep in his teeny space. In a nearby club, he performs and during his set, he forces Greta on to the stage to sing one of her songs. She is far from pleased but she performs a song somewhat listlessly. A down on his luck music impresario Dan Mark Ruffalo is drinking alone in the club and he can hear in the song some magic quality. It all then begins to happen. Ultimately they decide to put together a band of some very unlikely elements and it all turns out pretty well. It is a feel good movie and all the characters (other than Dave who is simply dull) underneath their somewhat stereotypical exteriors are rather likeable even if a bit infuriating at times.

The beginning part of the movie is somewhat infuriating as there are interspersed among the credits snippets from the film rather like a trailer of the film within the film. When the film subsequently begins in earnest the repeat of these snippets irritate and confuse rather than help the telling of a pretty simple story which does not need much explaining. Also the musical content of the film for the most part is underwhelming.

More successful are the scenes in the Lower Eastside eclectic bars and the surrounding streets give a cosiness to the plot as does Dan’s somewhat beat-up old Jag with its delightful wood-panelled interior and once again as in so many other movies the glory of the streetscapes of New York have an extraordinary facility to enchant and Carney does not fail on that score. It turns out that Greta is a very principled songwriter. She does not accept the principle that the writer of a book gets a buck for a ten dollar book while the publisher, agent, bookseller et al get nine. She wants a different deal for song and for the band who recorded it and Greta does find a solution.

There is a feel-good glow when the film is over but the enjoyment is transitory similar to eating of an éclair which is delicious to eat but pleasure fades rapidly as there is little to get your teeth into in an éclair and the same is true of this film.