“A chance encounter between a down-and-out music-business executive and a young singer-songwriter, new to Manhattan, turns into a promising collaboration between the two talents.” – IMDb
Begin Again
Starring
Kiera Knightley, Mark Ruffalo, Adam Levine, James Corden, Cee Lo Green, Mos Def and Catherine Keener
Directed by
John Carney
Box Office:
$5,286,000 as of July 11, 2014 (USA)
Thoughts
While I am indifferent when it comes to Keira Knightley, I absolutely love Mark Ruffalo. He’s the reason why I was honestly quite excited to see this film. I was unsure as to whether or not Knightley was the actual singer during the film. I later found an article (read it here) stating she did in fact sing. Knightley chose to do this role because it was out of her comfort zone.
I actually don’t know how I feel about this film. I’ll be honest- this film made me cry unexpectedly about six times. One time, it almost caused me to soak my entire shirt because I wanted to cry so hard. I don’t even know why. I think the lyrics to a few of the songs just really hit a part in me that I forgot was there. So in that aspect, this film was great.
However, I found it quite predictable which made it feel a bit long. I wanted to leave the theatre about 40 minutes before it was over, but the acting was not the root of this issue. I found everyone did a fantastic job.
Without James Corden for the comic relief, I think I may have cried even more. He did a wonderful job and I will now keep my eyes open for more of his work. [Fast forward to 2022, and Corden’s Late Show is one of my favorite shows]. Cee Lo Green and Mos Def were also great side characters and my love for Def has grown once again.
Adam Levine was the perfect choice to play the musical jerk that this film needed. I will not give any spoilers for this film but although the whole thing was predictable, you still wanted to scream at Knightley during one scene. This is because of how well Levine portrayed his character.
John Carney is known for his film “Once” (2006), which I have yet to watch, but it is a musical, so I shall add it to my movie list.
Overall
Begin Again wasn’t as good as I had hoped but it was the perfect film for a rainy Sunday. Most people are not as critical as I am so the majority of people would probably enjoy this film.
I did leave the theatre with one of the songs stuck in my head which is a good sign (!) and a few scenes did make you want to go out to do karaoke or wander the streets of New York but I don’t think I would Begin Again, well, again- even for Mark Ruffalo.