Begin Again (2014)

[Water Bottle]

Mark Ruffalo produces an album with Keira Knightley. Discuss.

[Water Bottle]

B+

 

A really great movie with an extremely charming performance by Keira Knightley.

[thunder storm]

A+. best movie from 2014 so far.

[Jack Nevada]

Fun little summer movie. Great songs and two fine performances from Keira Knightley and Mark Ruffalo. 3,5/5

[Lazer]

Knightly was good as usual, as was Ruffalo, to make a really sweet movie.

[Lazer]

Should this have been named "Once Again", to tie it into "Once", and then maybe help the box office?

[RobinHood26]

B (83)

 

Fun, little summer movie. I really had a good time but Adam Levine is a distraction. 

[filmlover]

A breezy and heartfelt love letter to New York that makes for perfect alternative summer viewing from Michael Bay-style attacks on the senses. John Carney has essentially remade his first movie, Once, with a known cast, but when results are this delightful, it's hard to complain. Keira Knightley (she can really sing, who knew?) has probably never been more captivating, Mark Ruffalo gives his most "relaxed" performance in years, and the rest of the cast (yes, even Adam Levine) is solid all around. Great soundtrack as well. B+

[Blankments]

Eh, it was alright. The editing was really awkward at points, but Knightley was charming and Levine made me laugh unintentionally. It just failed to really grab my attention though. B-

[DeeCee]

A really enjoyable little movie. However, the editing was a bit off. The opening back edits were fine it was just later in the movie when they went to Cee Lo Green to get some guys for the band those guys had already been in some scenes. It just wasn't needed.

Edited August 12, 2014 by DeeCee

[sarahpopcorn]

I saw this tonight and really enjoyed it!  Better than I thought it would be.

I liked the songs and the story.

I'd give it 3.5 or even 4 out of 4 stars.

Edited September 2, 2014 by sarahpopcorn

[Fancyarcher]

John Carney’s Begin Again is a nice little somewhat “feel good” musical set in New York. The film features some very good performances and the songs are also memorable and well written.

 

Begin Again tells the story of Greta (played by Keira Knightley) and her boyfriend/college sweetheart, named Dave (played by Adam Levine of Maroon 5 and The Voice making his feature film debut), who are songwriter partners. Their relationship hits a rocky road when Dave lands a major deal in Los Angeles and strays away from Greta, leaving her on her own. She is discovered on an east village stage by a washed up divorced record label executive named Dan (played by Mark Ruffalo), who takes to her talent and tries to make her a name. As the two begin their collaboration, they run into some problems along the way.  

 

There are some clear character arcs in the story as well. Dan, for example, goes from being an unlikeable drunk who is a disgraced and fired record producer, to having his job back, as well as improving his relationship with his daughter. Similarly, Greta goes from being a love-struck songwriter with no real ambitions to being an ambitious songwriter/singer who can clearly think on her own. The stories of these two characters parallel each other well. Other character arcs include Dan’s daughter, Violet (played by Hailee Steinfeld), who seems to have limited screen time (disappearing after the first ten minutes and not reappearing until an hour in), going from an angst-ridden daughter to discovering her talents for playing guitar. While Dave, Greta’s lover, goes from being an ambitious songwriter/singer to understanding just what fame is doing to him, in a story-arc that is almost like the opposite of Greta’s.

 

The acting in the film is very good. Mark Ruffalo has gained some weight, and is showing his age. When he talks to Knightley near the end of the film and says “you know nothing”, he delivers that line with such energy and force, it is terrific. Keira Knightly herself comes off as rather bitchy at the beginning of the film, but by the end, she develops into a finer character, even if her performance at times can feel emotionless. Hailee Steinfeld, as Ruffalo’s daughter, is wasted and brings nothing to the table. Similarly, Catherine Keener is wasted as Ruffalo’s ex, and her character is treated like your typical divorced nagging ex-wife. In his major film debut, singer Adam Levine has a nice voice, but his performances are, at times, bland, though his scenes with Knightley do show good moments of acting. Additionally, of note in the cast are Mos Def (under the alias Yasiin Bey!!!) as the owner of the record studio and Ceelo Green as a character named Troublegum, as a performer (basically playing himself).

 

The songs are really nicely done. One of my favorite scenes in the film is when Knightley and Ruffalo are walking down the streets of New York and they manage to incorporate “Luck Be a Lady” by Frank Sinatra in a way that gave me a feeling of happiness and excitement.  The majority of the original songs are written by Gregg Alexander and Nick Lashley (director John Carney himself contributed to two songs, including “Like a Fool” which has to do with trusting people. Knightley herself has a nice singing voice (having been trained by a voice specialist), and songs like “Lost Stars” and “A Higher Place” are good and having meaning. There are many good performances, even if some of the characters exist solely for the purpose of having real nice songs played.  Given Carney’s previous film, Once, one should probably not be surprised, as that film also dealt with music.

 

Begin Again has a very pleasing tone to it. The songs, along with the character arcs, contribute to the films overall style. Its worth checking out.

 

7.5 / 10

Edited September 8, 2014 by Pokearcher

[The Panda]

I really, really loved this movie, everything in it was just so damn likeable.  Mark Ruffalo gave a fine performance, and the music was fantastic.  As somebody who went into the field of music (well kind of, I majored in Music Therapy) I related well to all of the different aspects of the music industry it took on.  While the movie wasn't quite as magical as Once was, I don't think it was really striving to be.  My big complaint though is it didn't fully strike home in a lot of the areas it could have (they could have gone further into Steinfield's character for example).  Also, it's not necessarily new or inventive, it takes a lot of "been there done that" routes and choices, but for what it is it works and makes itself very likeable while doing it.  

 

I guess overall this is the sort of movie that simply is 'feel good' and likeable, and it doesn't take any risks where it doesn't have too (so in that way it does feel somewhat tame).  The music however is the driving force behind the movie, and it should definitely be up for some Oscar consideration there.  Overall though, I personally really loved this movie (even if objectively it's a well-made movie that just has been done before in many different aspects by others).  B+ (Nearly an A-)

Edited October 19, 2014 by The Panda

[ChD]

Well, consider me pretty much amazed. This movie was really, really good. Good thing Marvel hasn't planned Hulk solo movies. Ruffalo needs to keep doing movies like these since he's pretty damn talented. Keira Knightley is also pretty good in this. As I said, I liked it, close to loved it.

 

A

[ecstasy]

I have fallen in love with this movie. I'm so obsessed! I just watched it over the holiday. I am so sorry I didn't get a chance to watch it in the theater. My wish is that Lost Stars gets nominated for original song at the Oscars and Keira and Adam would sing as a duet. A girl can dream.

 

I can't remember the last time a movie moved me like this.

 

A

[4815162342]

charming little movie

 

B+

[Leyla]

I have fallen in love with this movie. I'm so obsessed! I just watched it over the holiday. I am so sorry I didn't get a chance to watch it in the theater. My wish is that Lost Stars gets nominated for original song at the Oscars and Keira and Adam would sing as a duet. A girl can dream.

 

I can't remember the last time a movie moved me like this.

 

A

Im so happy u liked it E!!!

Edited December 22, 2014 by Lady of Lorien

[DeeCee]

I really love this movie but I'm still annoyed by the editing choices in the middle of the film when they're getting the band together. 

Edited January 1, 2017 by DeeCee