Sam's Blog - Begin Again

From the filmmakers of ONCE, BEGIN AGAIN follows a similar pattern: boy and girl meet, boy and girl create music together. However, their journey is a little more unconventional. Greta is the anti-record label enthusiast, and Dan is an ex-record label exec trying to get his job back.

Dan (Mark Ruffalo) started his own independent record label, but his alcoholism and lack of ability to bring in an artist for the past seven years causes his own partner (Mos Def) to let him go. His home life is in just as bad shape... Dan lives separately from his wife and 14 year old daughter, presumably in an attempt on his wife's part to make him get his act together.

Greta only came to New York to support her boyfriend and songwriting partner, Dave (Adam Levine), who has blossomed into a famous musician. But when a nasty break-up occurs, Greta finds herself on her own in New York. Well, not completely alone... she crashes at the house of her friend, Steve (James Corden), who takes her out the night before she is supposed to fly home. Hence, on the same night that Dan loses his job and goes to a bar to drown his sorrows, Steve is forcing Greta to release her emotional turmoil by singing one of her songs on the stage of that same bar. The two meet, and an unlikely partnership begins as Dan tries to get Greta signed in an attempt to get his job back. Greta, who has an aversion to record labels now that she's seen what it did to her ex, finally agrees to Dan's idea to record a demo in the streets of New York.

The soundtrack throughout is fresh and honest as they start recording Greta's music (though ironically a little more mainstream than that of ONCE). And overall, the story is young and fun and drives home a message about indie music... it's the hipster of musicals, ending with a pretty solid stick-it-to-the-man moment. Knightley and Ruffalo give great performances, as usual, and I have to give a nod to Adam Levine for his debut performance in a feature film.

John Carney seems to love giving an air of looming romantic tension between characters that is never brought to full fruition (thankfully, in the case of this film). Though Knightley and Ruffalo have great onscreen chemistry, Carney's trademark adds a certain strength to the characters -- they don't just jump into a relationship haphazardly because of one connection. The writing of this story is leaps and bounds past the writing that Carney offered with ONCE, though there are a couple of moments that almost make Dan and Greta's adventures seem too easy -- for someone who hasn't had a break in several years in his own industry, the pieces practically seem to fall into his lap, already fitted together. Perhaps if we had seen his relationship with Cee Lo Green before they started planning the album, it would have been a little more natural. But overall, there are not too many complaints, and BEGIN AGAIN is well worth the watch.

This is a fun watch, one that will leave you smiling as you leave the theater. Come see the film this week at the Midtown Cinema!