Over Labor Day weekend, AMC is offering free tickets to see Begin Again in participating movie theaters. I snatched up two tickets on Friday and my friend and I went in with fairly low expectations - after all, if they were resorting to free ticket promotions, how good could the movie be? Turns out, really good. If the intention of this promotion is to increase word of mouth, they certainly succeeded, because I'm here to tell everyone to watch this movie.
The central characters are the talented but unassuming songwriter Gretta (Keira Knightley) and the alcoholic and down-on-his-luck music producer Dan (Mark Ruffalo), with New York City contributing a great deal in the background. The movie begins with Gretta's best friend Steve (the always delightful James Corden) forcing her to sing one of her songs at an open mic night in an East Village bar. As she reluctantly sings, Dan, who just stopped in to have a drink, is mesmerized and decides that he needs to sign Gretta on as an artist for his label.
The first half of the movie unfolds mostly in flashbacks. We see how Gretta arrived in New York from the UK with her pop star boyfriend Dave (a hilariously well-cast Adam Levine) and the gradual dissolution of that relationship. We learn how Dan went from being a Grammy award-winning producer to a complete shambles of a human being who is an embarassment to his estranged wife and daughter (Catherine Keener and Hailee Steinfeld, both putting in remarkable supporting performances). And after establishing the mess that both these characters are in, the movie generously give them a second chance to build themselves back up and make beautiful music.
Writer-director John Carney is the man responsible for Once, and he is a master of making movies about music and real people. The movie is slyly devious, threatening to slip into Hollywood cliche, then thwarting the audience's expectations to deliver a funny and heartfelt movie. The relationships don't pan out in typical rom-com fashion and are instead grounded in genuine human emotion. Keira Knightley and Mark Ruffalo are impeccable and the supporting cast is thoroughly delightful, elevating the movie in every scene. Gregg Alexander is responsible for the movie's evocative soundtrack and he has captured every character's personality to give the movie an added layer of authenticity.
Begin Again was initially released in June and got lost in the morass of big-budget summer blockbusters. However, by re-releasing it now, in the quieter fall months when quality independent movies can be discovered more easily, The Weinstein Company is wisely courting more attention for this gem of a movie. Therefore, if you have no plans this Labor Day, head to your local theater and watch Begin Again. Then tell all your friends to do so and ensure this movie gets the attention it so rightfully deserves.
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