Sweet, melancholy and honest, Begin Again is a welcome antidote to the summer action-movie blahs. John Carney, the writer and director of Once, offers audiences another musical movie about love and loneliness that’s almost as good as his previous indie sensation, but without quite the same emotional punch.
In Begin Again, Keira Knightley plays a British songwriter stranded in New York after her boyfriend, played by Maroon 5’s Adam Levine, gets a major record deal and ditches her in favor of fame and female fans. When she runs into a fallen record executive, played by Mark Ruffalo, they conspire to cobble together an album despite having no budget and little hope of success. Part of the film’s charm are the familiar faces doing unfamiliar things: singer Levine acts and actress Knightley sings. Ruffalo is great, as usual, playing a lovable, average guy trying to salvage his life after past mistakes. The music is not quite catchy enough to convince me that Knightley’s character will end up a star, but it’s enjoyable, as is watching each character realize his or her potential.
Should You See It? Yes. —R.K.
Viewed at Plaza Frontenac Cinema
