Begin Again – ****

John Carney has done it Once more with Begin Again. The writer/director has crafted yet another beautiful, moving ode to music via the medium of film. As with Once, Carney deftly weaves a powerful tale of connection and healing through the shared creation of music, this time between Greta (Keira Knightley) & Dan (Mark Ruffalo).

And just as Dublin plays a character in its own right in the former, so does New York City in the latter. But that is just about as far as the similarities between both films goes. Whereas Once focuses more upon the romantic relationship between the main characters, Begin Again is more about how their work has helped each to carry on with their lives.

The film opens with an open mic night at a dingy dive bar being MC’d by Steve (James Corden), who is a close friend of Greta’s and fellow UK ex-pat. Steve basically peer pressures Greta to perform an original song on stage, with some skeptical coaxing from the audience. She finally caves in and nervously tunes her guitar. Moments later, she sheepishly croons. Before finishing to smattering applause, in walks drunken Dan who is completely mesmerized by her singing, a sentiment not equally shared with the rest of the crowd.

This is where the flashbacks of Greta & Dan’s backstory play back, leading to the moment at the bar, beginning with Dan. Dan’s flashback starts just earlier that day as he is woken up in bed by an employee of the record label he co-founded, who informs him that he has a meeting.  When he arrives, however, it is not the type of conference he was expecting. He makes a dramatic exit, with his estranged teenage daughter, Violet (Hailee Steinfeld), in tow.

Later on that evening, Dan has finally hit rock bottom and all hope seems lost, when he wanders from the subway into the said bar, right as Greta reluctantly takes the stage.  As she plays, the various, unattended instruments around her began playing by themselves in Dan’s musical producer mind, to accompany Greta’s beautiful singing. It’s an interesting point to note that, yes that is, in fact, actually Keira Knightley singing. Her vocal talents are quite impressive, and would be at home amongst contemporary indie-folk singer/songwriters.

This cues up Greta’s backstory, beginning with Greta settling into the Big Apple with her soon-to-be-rockstar-cliche boyfriend, Dave (Adam Levine). His label has just put him up in a massive loft apartment, loaded out with a ping-pong table, basketball rim, and fully-stocked fridge, just to name a few of the perks. They share intimate moments enjoying their new success. Yet, their seemingly perfect lifestyle doesn’t last long, predictably. She then ends up crashing with her friend Steve, who consequently invites her to the open mic night that sets everything in motion.

Now, we are back to the ‘present’ time, as Dan stumbles over to Greta after her song and throws out his card in her face, and blurts out that he wants to record and produce for her. Incredulous, she declines his offer. After some beers, she changes her mind, however, and agrees to go with him to his record label. She meets Saul, but he isn’t extremely impressed, who is more interested in “commercially viable” artists (aka mainstream). The irony, of course, being that Dan & Saul started Distressed Records to be an independent-friendly record label. As the Great Dylan states, “the times they are a-changing.”

Since she auditioned for him live, he suggests to Dan that they produce a demo before he’ll seriously consider signing Greta. With this stipulation, Dan comes up with an incredibly ingenious idea, one that excites and motivates the both of them. During the course of their collaboration, they share their mutual love of music. And ultimately, they are able to heal both themselves and each other. Dan also discovers that Violet is quite the budding electric guitarist herself.

Apart from singing, Keira Knightley was charmingly effervescent as the lost ex-pat in a strange land, who learns to stand on her own two feet. Mark Ruffalo also gives a stirring performance as an alcoholic wreck who’s struggling to get his life back on track.

Adam Levine doesn’t have to stretch too far in his feature film acting debut, portraying a rising rockstar, with a bit of an ego complex. However, the facial hair he sports throughout the film is extremely distracting and just seems out of place, from the 70’s era mustache, to the Amish-looking beard. There was a line about it that seemed to be a deliberate dig at Inside Lleweyen Davis. But, other than that, the beard just seemed pointless.

Levine’s fellow coach from The Voice, CeeLo Green was far more entertaining and endearing as hip hop star, Troublegum. Catherine Keener was wonderful, as usual, as Dan’s wife, Miriam.

Begin Again is a beautiful film, with an equally beautiful soundtrack, featuring much of the cast. For lovers of Once, Begin Again should not be missed.