The unlikely pair of Mark Ruffalo and Keira Knightley make beautiful music
together as a pair who whose hearts have been ripped out by the industry they
love. While the hard-scrabble Dublin streets of Once allowed Carney to
indulge in this perfect world of musical purity where talent and heart are all
that matters, the reality is something else entirely. This is the day of manufactured
pop stars practically rolled off the studio conveyor belt, and those few who do
breakout on their own largely do it outside of the system from the comfort of
their own homes. So what good is an A&R man like Dan Mulligan (Ruffalo)
in that kind of atmosphere? Not much good at all, it turns out. Having just
been fired from the company he helped build, Dan is having the worst day ever
when he shows up at a local bar to get wasted, a regular occurrence. It's
open mic night and amidst the chatter and clanging of dinner plates is Greta
(Knightly), a British girl with a soulful voice performing an original piece of
music. There's a fantastic moment when Dan tunes everything out and envisions
the potential of Greta's song backed by full orchestral accompaniment.
And while Dan sees a light at the end of the tunnel, he's not the only
one who's been chewed up by the big city.
Relying heavily on flashback we see the same scene from three different
perspectives: one neutral, and others from Dan and Greta. This accounts for a
large chunk of the first act and for a while it seems there won't be any moving
forward. Greta's story has a bit more meat to it than Dan's as she deals with
the heartaches brought on by sudden fame. Not her fame, mind you, but that of
her ex-boyfriend Dave (Adam Levine) who came over with her from the U.K. after
one of his songs became a hit on a movie soundtrack. The two were once an
inseparable creative pair, making music just for them to enjoy, but now he’s
become a self-absorbed superstar. We can
tell he's growing more self-involved by the amount of facial hair on his face.
Seriously. Dumped and alone in New York City, Greta moves in with her
enthusiastic musician friend Steve (James Corden, from the similarly-themed One
Chance) and hits the club that fateful night. 
Dan immediately tries to sign her and understandably she's a bit squeamish
about the whole idea. Not only is Dan a drunk who doesn't have the financial
means to sign her if he wanted to, but she didn't come to New York with plans of
being a singer. She's a songwriter, and the person she wrote songs for just
trampled all over heart. Of course he finally convinces her, otherwise this
wouldn't be the crowd-pleasing film Carney has a certain knack for, and he lays
out a plan to make her stand out from the masses. That plan consists of calling
in some old favors and gathering a band, with Greta performing her music live
at city landmarks, capturing the raw honest sound of New York. And boy is that
music infectious, just as much of the film turns out to be. Unlike the songs in
Once that creeped into your soul, remember the first time you heard
"Falling Slowly", none of the music in Begin Again has quite
that same impact. The tracks here, performed with surprising gusto by
Knightley, are a catchy, enjoyable brand of radio-ready blues funk.
From there the film explores what was pointedly laid out in its original
title, "Can A Song Save Your Life?", with Knightley and Ruffalo
basically going through the same motions as Hansard and Irglova did before.
Greta and Dan become close in the process of recording her album, including one
great sequence where they take in the town while listening to music through a
shared set of headphones. And soon we come to think that love is definitely in
the air for these two, but this is John Carney and he loves to tease. Their
situation is muddled by Dan's angry ex-wife (Catherine Keener, because that's
what she does) and his rebellious daughter (Hailee Steinfeld) who desperately
needs a change of wardrobe.
There's comfort to be taken in the cliched nature of each character's arc,
aided by the rhythmic chemistry between Ruffalo and Knightley. Few can play
frazzled burn-out with the sort of zen quality that Ruffalo has mastered, and
Knightley's awkward beauty comes in handy as a character that has shied away
from the spotlight. Does Begin Again seem a little bit like a
pre-packaged romance? Sometimes yes, it does, and there's irony to be found in
that considering the subject matter. But audiences will leave Begin Again
with a smile on their faces and a few new songs to add to their playlist.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
