Begin Again

Writer/director John Carney has had a bit of a struggled journey following up his 2006 Oscar-winner Once, floundering with the likes of Zonad (which a lot of folk didn't like) and The Rafters (which a lot of folk didn't see), he’s now back to a love story involving musicians. So has he just given Once an American once-over with bigger stars? Not exactly.

James Corden is a poor busker who invites his friend Keira Knightley on stage during an open-mic night, much to her embarrassment. She sings her song, and nobody in the audience is really listening, except for producer Mark Ruffalo who thinks he’s just potentially discovered a new star. From there, we go back to earlier that day, and we find out that Ruffalo is an alcoholic, disliked by his wife Catherine Keener and hated by his daughter Hailee Steinfeld, and about to get dumped by his musical business partner Mos Def.

We’re not done flashbacking yet though, as we get an even further and longer jump back in time to Knightley arriving in the States with her boyfriend Adam Levine, and we watch their relationship slowly disintegrate as he gets swallowed whole by the bright lights of superstardom.

There’s a lot of plates spinning here all at once, and Carney does a (mostly) good job of keeping on top of everything – even if at one point there’s actually a flashback within a flashback, big storytelling no-no – and it helps that he’s aided by Ruffalo at his most gruffly charming and Knightley at her least pretentiously annoying.

The big problem here is that for a movie built around songs, sometimes used as a means of story progression, and the songs themselves are mostly painfully middle-of-the-road and instantly forgettable. Then there’s the fact that Ruffalo and Knightley’s individual storylines are quite engaging, but things take a turn for the dull whenever they’re left alone together.

Still though, while this may not end up as one of your Ten Desert Island (DVD) Discs, Begin Again is the cinematic equivalent of easy listening, but anyone with even an iota of cynicism will be left longing for something with little edge to it.