Begin Again Movie Blurb by Shale July 5, 2014 This was a most charming romantic drama about two ppl who love music and have gone thru their own personal traumas, finding each other and both helping the other to begin again. It was well liked by both critics and audiences, including me. The movie introduces the characters and their background thru some very well done flashbacks from the point of their meeting in an open mic music bar where Greta (Keira Knightley) has been prodded by her singing friend Steve (James Corden) to come onstage and play one of her songs. This is heard by a drunk music producer, Dan Mulligan (Mark Ruffalo), who immediately recognizes the beauty of the song. (And some good movie making special effects to show how Dan hears so much more instrumentals than the one guitar playing - sort of an inside view of a composers thots). Then, the movie takes us back to the arrival in New York of Greta and her fast rising musician boyfriend Dave Kohl (Adam Levine) who just signed with a major label. She is equal to him in talent, but he is in the spotlight of the moment. They are madly in love for five years. Greta & Dave Arrive in NYC As famous musicians often do, Dave has an affair and Greta leaves, ending up crashing with her street musician friend Steve (who took her to the open mic bar). We also get to see the previous day with Dan as he wakes up hungover and stumbles in late to the office to find out he's been fired by his partners. Dan is divorced and had to pick up his teen daughter Violet (Hailee Steinfeld) from school so she got to see that drama go down and accompany her father while he has a few beers after. Daddy & Daughter in Bar He manages to get even drunker by evening while taking The El home and thinks about jumping off the trestle but decides to go into the bar instead, where he hears Greta sing and later offers to sign her or at least talk to his former partner about signing her. Well, that deal fell thru since she didn't even have a demo disc but Dan comes up with an idea for music purity by performing all over the city and cutting an album. He calls in contacts and sells good musicians on working for free to be paid on the back end of the album. Greta & Group Perform in NYC Alley This extended project is therapeutic for Greta and Dan as they immerse themselves in music. Dan also reconnects with his daughter, who takes a liking to Greta and even starts to reconcile with Miriam (Catherine Keener) his ex. This movie about musicians actually had a lot of music in it, not just bits and pieces and the location shots in NYC were nice. I would highly recommend it for those who like romantic dramas, music or NYC.
