Begin Again (DVD) – Movie Review
It doesn’t always have to be superheroes saving the Earth or a crew of bad ass, buff guys bringing mayhem to town (yes The Expendables, I’m talking about you). Once in a while, it’s nice to just experience a non-spectacular but enjoyable realistic story. Begin Again is a movie that can be watched with the whole family and although it might not be everyone’s favorite kind of movie, it’ll still be a relaxing 99 minutes of watching television.
Begin Again’s main theme is about music. Well, maybe it’s not really ‘the’ theme but in this movie, music basically connects all characters with one another. First of all we’ve got Dan, a music producer with a bit of an alcohol problem. At the beginning of the movie, we see how Dan gets fired by the company he helped build up from the ground and because of that, he’s pretty depressed. With a bottle in the hand, he stumbles across a café and stays there while several musical performances are played by amateur artists. In this very café however, Gretta starts playing a song on her beat-up guitar and it doesn’t take too long before Dan realizes that there’s a rough diamond right in front of him.
Gretta herself has an interesting story to tell as well. She originates from England but came to New York to support her boyfriend Dave, who seems to have made it in the music business. Unfortunately, Dave’s fame seems to take a heavy toll on their relationship. Gretta eventually ends up in the same café where Dan is drinking away his problems. When they meet each other, it’s the beginning of an incredible friendship. A jobless producer and a heartbroken songwriter, seems like an ideal couple, no?
Although the story is nothing to get overly excited about, it’s a good thing that it pretty plain and simple. It makes the movie a lot more realistic but also a tad too predictable. In other movies, a predictable plot would be kind of a deal breaker, but that’s not the case here. Begin Again is just as enjoyable too watch, even if you already know from the starts where things are headed.
As already mentioned before, music plays (pun intended) a very prominent role in Begin Again. A lot of emotions are transferred between characters, just by a simple song. Luckily, the songs in the movie are of a very decent quality which doesn’t surprise too much knowing that Maroon 5’s frontman Adam Levine himself is playing as Dave, the famous boyfriend. The amount of music is just enough and the songs are very enjoyable to listen too. Keira Knightley proves she’s a lot more than just Elizabeth from Pirates of the Caribbean where everyone probably knows her from. Although her singing isn’t perfect, she stills knows how to pass on a deep message with the help of music. The emotions she shows throughout the movie look sincere and convincing. The same can be said for Mark Ruffalo (Dan), known for his roles in The Avengers and Now You See Me. It’s pretty surprising to see Ruffalo in a role such as this one but he does the job perfectly well. Occasionally he brings some humour in the movie but it feels like there might’ve been some more funny moments. Although Begin Again is not considered a comedy pur sang, Ruffalo’s character Dan had some of his best moments when he was doing silly things (like trying to take home a gigantic piece of art when he gets fired). Steve (played by James Corden) is a great personage too, although we don’t see a whole lot of him.
There’re a few extras ready to be watched once you’re done. First of all, there a ‘making of’ clip which is always a nice extra. If you liked the songs in the movie, you’ll have a chance to see a whole video clip of each of them in the Lyric Music Videos extra.
Conclusion
Begin Again is the perfect movie to watch with the whole family on a relaxed Sunday for example. It’s not a blockbuster or anything like that, but the movie has enough content and musical features to make you like it. The songs are all really good and might even stick in your head. The plot is pretty predictable and it wouldn’t have hurt if Mark Ruffalo made the whole movie a tad more humorous. In its whole, Begin Again is definitely worth a watch if you’re open minded for this kind of movies. Going in expecting a tense, exciting movie with an incredible plot is probably not the way to go. Just let the music move you, is all I can say.
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