Begin Again (2014)

[Frayed Knot]

From the writer/director of ONCE comes a movie about � making music!

Here a down on his luck (much of it self-inflicted) indie music exec (Mark Ruffalo) crosses paths with reluctant songwriter/singer Gretta (Keira Knightly) � depressed after being tossed over by her rock star boyfriend (Adam Levine) � and a musical project ensues.

Will this pairing redeem him? Will it justify her? Can they buck the minefield that is the music business? And, of course, will they or won�t they?

[Edgy MD]

The magic of Once seemed to largely come out of the virtue-by-necessity reality of big-shot stars pulling out of the movie, and the budget-tapped producers casting non-star musicians instead of forcing the big shots to fake it.

So the film-maker gets another shot, with more juice to get (and keep) big shot movie stars attached, and the magic wasn't there for me.

Ruffalo gets points for being one of those handful of actors who you get the idea you can smell through the screen --- call them the sons of Nick Nolte. It's not the greatest of virtues, but ... . That's not the only grace, but generally, the thing felt forced and formulaic. Like Disney saw the receipts on Once, and said"Let's knock that off, except with Disney values and a Disney budget." Keira Knightly wasn't a disaster, but by not having the Once-like courage of actually finding a young singer-and/or-songwriter you believe in, and instead cast this big shot with an established Q-rating, it kind of betrays it's own spirit and message, because that's exactly part of what the movie indicts the music industry for.

Some good-but-not-great music, and a sorta ham-handed critique of the music business where it is now.