Review of Begin Again (2014) by Dawdlingpoet — 27 Nov 2021

This is a drama film with an emphasis on music, of course. It features themes including showbusiness, singing, recording and female musicians. First off, I quite enjoyed Kiera Knightley's singing (which is mostly pop/folk type songs) and I liked that she, as the lead female character, was quite independent, fiesty and self assured, hence she's clearly more on the up than the male lead, Dan (played by Mark Ruffalo). I felt it was quite refreshing to see a film depicting a woman being more in the driving seat, if you know what I mean. It could easily be classified as a chick flick type of film I suppose, with Kiera's character, Gretta, being sassy and so on but it didn't strike me as quite as pure saccarine sweet as some rom com's I've come across. I don't tend to watch many of those.

I liked that the singer Adam Levine appeared in it - he's well known for being in the US group Maroon 5, so it does add a certain element of realism to it. I'm not sure I'd agree that fellow co-star James Corden (who plays Steve) is quite as good when it comes to singing or performing as a musician however(!). Joking aside, other cast members include Hailee Steinfeld, who plays Violet, Yasiin Bey as Saul and Catherine Keener as Miriam.

The music featured is predominantly quite light in tone, acoustic/unplugged, pretty pleasant, if a little 'airy fairy' but I quite enjoyed it. I suppose it helps to be in a good mood when watching this, as if your in a bad mood then you may feel more likely to roll your eyes and switch it off possibly. It probably didn't quite contain the substance I may have hoped for in such a film categorised as a drama and by that I mean it wasn't exactly a fast paced thriller of a film. The characters are fairly interesting/intriguing and I liked Gretta well enough but the main plot wasn't exactly amazing. Its a pretty light and I guess easy watch.

Content wise, the film contains sex references and strong language including some offensive instances of name calling and some pejorative references to different groups of people (teenagers/singers etc.). There are drug references and characters shown who are drunk but otherwise there isn't anything much likely to offend to upset. The film has been given a 15 rating in the UK.

Its fair to say that this is a film which is optimistic in tone, which is somewhat summery and may be an enjoyable watch, particularly if your keen on dramas which focus on character development, films with strong female lead roles and you like contemporary folk music perhaps. It isn't in any way a memorable film - I can't see myself thinking back to it in the future at all but it isn't as bad as it perhaps could have been. To me it was relatively good but, I suppose, probably more average or alright over all, as for my personal tastes it seemed to lack a real depth or substance, so I'll err on the side of caution somewhat and go for an overall 5 out of 10 rating for this one.

I suppose I would cautiously recommend this film. It features decent performances from Knightley and Ruffalo and has some fun music - the plot pace is a little slow and it isn't especially dramatic as such but itd alright. Its a fairly easy watch and it isn't as cringey as some 'chick flicks' I've seen, so it could be worse. However, it won't suit everyone - if your looking for a really dramatic film, or a film featuring a speedy plot pace, or if you hate cheese then this won't be for you and I didn't feel it was very memorable either. It has good points and bad points, so I suppose I'd leave it up to the individual to decide if they'd enjoy it or not - I'd, personally, hoped for a bit more substance but thats a personal preference.