‘Begin Again’ charms in quiet manner
Print Edition
“BEGIN Again” sees Irish writer-director John Carney on a larger canvas, revisiting themes from his 2006 indie hit “Once.”
The chief theme he explores is the emotional connectivity of music.
Swapping Dublin for New York, and trading a single couple for a group of people all trying to mend broken bonds or forge new ones, the touching film deploys a series of gentle ballads, a number of them performed by star Keira Knightley.
Carney demonstrates that the disarming emotional candor and intimacy of “Once” were no fluke. He is a wholesale believer in the healing power of music.
Knightley plays Greta, a Brit hauled up onstage in a bar to do one of her songs at an open mic night by her busker friend from home, Steve (James Corden). The melancholy number doesn’t exactly wow the crowd, with the exception of enraptured drunk music industry A&R veteran Dan Mulligan (Mark Ruffalo). The film then rewinds twice to approach the same scene from different perspectives, revealing the day from hell that pushed Dan to drown his sorrows and the series of events that left Greta miserable in Manhattan.
Greta came to New York a few months back with her songwriting partner and boyfriend of five years, Dave Kohl (Adam Levine). As his success spiraled after one of his songs was featured in a hit movie, he cheated on Greta and left her behind.
Back at the open mic night, Dan hears and sees the potential for enhancement in Greta’s song. Despite her ambivalence to the proposal of cutting a demo with him or anyone, and her eagerness to flee back to England, Greta sticks around.
Incorporating some degree of cast improvisation, Carney’s screenplay is not exactly robust, and the film feels slightly padded with mini montages. But there’s a nice ambling quality to the story and the lovely chemistry between Knightley and Ruffalo enriches their numerous scenes together.
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