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.

The Fault In Our Stars – *****

Well, that time is fast upon us. Perhaps the biggest movie of the summer will be released on Friday, and we haven’t even hit the summer solstice yet. For the uninitiated, The Fault In Our Stars is a beautifully poignant, yet ultimately heart-wrenching, adaptation of John Green’s bestselling novel. The overwhelmingly massive fanbase of the novel will be more than pleased with the fact that it is near verbatim from the book, besides some minor alterations in the third act. Otherwise, it is completely faithful to the source material, including a majority of its key dialogue.

TFIOS, as its affectionately called among the fan community, is a modern-day take on Shakespeare’s timeless masterpiece, Romeo & Juliet. However, in this tale, the star-crossed lovers are embattled by each of their own forms of cancer, as opposed to feuding Montagues and Capulets. Hazel Grace Lancaster (Shailene Woodley) is a typical, bookish teenager, except for the fact that she suffers from both thyroid, and subsequently, lung cancer. The latter of which has caused her to carry a portable oxygen tank around with her wherever she goes. As part of her prescribed treatment and with persistent nagging from her mother (played wonderfully by Laura Dern), she attends a weekly Cancer Support Group, which meets at a church that is in the Literal Heart of Jesus.

During one such meeting, she is introduced to the charismatic Agustus Waters (Ansel Elgort), or Gus for short. She is instantly attracted to him, especially once he proclaims that his greatest fear is “oblivion”, meaning that he wants to pass on knowing that he has left some kind of significant legacy upon the world, which is something most of us aspire to. It is quite rare to see someone as young as Gus who is so eloquent and witty. He is certainly not the typical teen heartthrob.

And while Gus is only there for his friend, Isaac (Nat Wolff), he once had osteosarcoma but has since been in remission. After Hazel’s surprising rebuttal, Gus is equally infatuated with Hazel as well. As they strike up a conversation while waiting outside for their rides, Gus unabashedly calls Hazel “beautiful”, and from there we’re off to the races.

Their intense romance moves along at an impressive clip, as seen through cute, floating text messages and phone calls, or even just how Gus always calls her “Hazel Grace” instead of just “Hazel”. But what creates the strongest bond between them is when they each share their personal favorite books (both fictional). For Hazel, it’s An Imperial Affliction, a book about, ironically enough, a child with cancer. And Gus gives Hazel his copy of CounterInsurgency 2: The Prince of Dawn, which is a sci-fi war story based on a video game he and Isaac enjoy playing daily.

As Gus is totally enamored with everything about Hazel, he gladly reads through AIA, and empathizes with Hazel when he reaches the end and has all the same questions she does. She then confides in him that she has written the author, Peter Van Houten (William Dafoe), numerous times, but has never received a response.

Secretly, Gus takes the initiative to track down the author himself. After a while, he does in fact receive a brief email back from Van Houten via his personal assistant, Lidewij (Lotte Verbeek). He says that he will not discuss what happens beyond the ending, except in person, for fear it may be distributed publicly. Gus then shares it with Hazel, who is ecstatic, and they both interpret it as an open invitation to Amsterdam.

As a child with cancer, they are allowed a Genie Wish (a la the Make-A-Wish Foundation). However, Hazel had already spent her wish when she was younger on a trip to Disney World. Gus jokingly chastises her for foolishly wasting her wish on something so cliche. But as Gus has wisely saved his Wish, he sets up an elaborate date with Hazel and informs her that he is taking her to Amsterdam so that she can meet her idol in person, and receive the answers she was desperately waiting to know ever since she first read AIA.

Although some complications arise, eventually the young couple are set to go to the Netherlands. They explore the beautiful and historic canals of the city on a romantic evening. The next day, they head out to meet Van Houten. Unfortunately, the visit is not what they were hoping for. Hazel and Gus will not let that spoil their literal trip of a lifetime.

Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort absolutely illuminate throughout. Director Josh Boone does an incredible job adapting the novel. Warning: Remember to bring some tissues! TFIOS is the epitome of “tearjerker”. It is doubtful that there will be one dry eye in the theaters by the time the end credits roll. But as they say, there is catharsis in letting it out. Watching this, the audience will definitely do just that. Fans of the novel will definitely not be disappointed!