Begin Again by John Carney is a lovely, feel-good film with an indie-vibe perfect for summer. The film follows a disgraced music producer Dan Mulligan (Mark Ruffalo) and a young singer songwriter Gretta (Keira Knightley) through a chance encounter and their subsequent collaboration to bring their music into the world and prove their talents to Distressed Records. Along the way they explore New York, make new friends and heal old wounds in a fun, light watch.
The plot was quite predictable and from early on in the film you could tell the path that it would be going down so there were very few surprises really. This might serve as a bit of a warning if you prefer fast-paced films because this film is quite slow paced and steeped in 'realism' style filming wrapped in a good deal of idealist bubble wrap (everything is a little too easy if you get my gist).
This doesn't mean the film is bad though! It's satisfying to sit back and watch everything turn out as you expected, hoped and wanted it to, without any of the drama or complications of a big blockbuster or real life. Gretta and Dan come up with the idea to record songs in locations across New York with a group of talented (and in some cases, desperate) musicians and this creates some great humour, smiles and really interesting cinematography. The locations picked out are inventive and were filmed well, highlighting the simplicity of the music as they start of in an alley and work their way through iconic and beautiful landscapes.
Keira Knightley did a fantastic job of playing the independent and stubborn young singer-songwriter; Gretta. I found her acting to be incredibly realistic and the on-screen chemistry between Gretta and Dan was spot on. Their relationship was exactly what I wanted from the film and I'm so so so pleased that John Carney decided to take it down the route he did because I think it would have ruined the film to have had it any different. It was interesting to see them both in roles that I hadn't seen them in before and it was a really fresh change from what I'm used to expecting of them. James Corden was lovable, sweet, the perfect friend and a much needed dash of humour in the low points of the film. Adam Levine portrayed the egotistical rock star boyfriend, Dave Kohl, well. By that I mean I intensely disliked the man. Especially his beard.
I didn't like the music much at first but it grew on me and as I write this I'm listening to 'Coming Up Roses' which is my favourite song from the film. I found the lyrics to some of the songs to be quite simplistic and that felt a little uncomfortable since the whole film was based around how amazing this girl was at song writing but although it doesn't particularly fit my personal tastes I can see that the lyrics reflected the simplicity of Gretta's style.
I'd recommend this film if you like indie-style music and films and especially if you're in need of a bit of a pick me up that isn't as clichéd as a cheesy rom-com. Though there is romance in the film I feel that the focus is on the music and the friendships that blossom between the group as they connect over their love of music. I like this focus because it's a much needed change from the typical romances in cinema and it was perfect for showing the strength and independence of Gretta as she works on her career and remains steadfastly true to herself through it all.
I'd probably give this film a 3/4 stars out of 5. It was good, it was light and a lovely story about not selling yourself out, but I'm not sure how appropriate it is for the big screen.
Kimmy
PS. Keira Knightley looks amazing. I have never seen anyone pull of boyfriend jeans and capris as well as her and I have serious jealousy about it.
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