Written and directed by John Carney, the film stars Keira Knightley and Mark Ruffalo alongside James Corden, and Adam Levine from Maroon 5 (swoon).
The storyline follows Gretta (Knightley) - a singer-songwriter from England who's come to Manhattan with her then-boyfriend, Dave (played by the ever-hunky Adam Levine), who's songs were made famous in a film. Typically he turns out to be a knob and they go their separate ways. Meanwhile, Mark Ruffalo's character, Dan, gets fired from his job as a hot shot music - after having already split from his wife and turned to alcoholism.
So Gretta is sleeping on Steve's couch - a busker, played by James Corden, who Gretta met at university and so happens to be in the city at the same time - and Dan is living in a gross apartment, neglecting both his work and his teenage daughter. Amazingly the pair bump into each other at an open-mic night, and Dan sees something special in Gretta and her music.
After a strange series of events, Dan and Gretta become great friends and record an amazing outdoor album - using random musicians and the acoustics of random places across the city. Everything turns out well in the end: Coming Up Roses is one of the songs on Gretta's album, and that's definitely what happens.
So that's the plot, ish, without spoilers I hope. The film is a unique and beautiful story - yes it features some clichés but they're worked so well into the plot that to me it didn't matter. The characters complement each other wonderfully and the film is just so full of joy.
What really made is special for me, though, was the soundtrack. It's full of original songs sung by Gretta and some by ex-boyf Dave; and honestly they're beautiful. I've downloaded them all.
Begin Again is well worth a trip to the cinema: beautiful people and beautiful songs working within a beautiful story line. JUST BEAUTIFUL OKAY.
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