You could’t find two characters more fitting for a film titled Begin Again.
Meet songwriter Gretta. She’s talked into reluctantly taking the stage and the guitar from a pal in a New York City bar as he’s finishing his set. She explains that it’s a song she’s just finishing, so it might be raw. As she somewhat shakily sings, the politeness in the room wears off and people begin conversations. Greta gains some confidence as she rolls through her story about facing a crossroads in the subway, but by the end, there’s one interested man clapping rather madly in the middle of the room.
Meet record industry executive Dan. He’s at the tail end of a hard-drinking day because …
Writer and director John Carney adeptly fills the screen with back stores to heighten each’s separate despair.
A rumpled Mark Ruffalo is superb as Dan Mulligan, who at one time was part of a two-man indie record team that put the Manhattan music industry on its ear, making a couple of big stars in the process, particularly Troublegum, played with a heart of gold and memory of an elephant by Cee Lo Green. But that was then. Now Dan can’t find a musician to make a hit record. His partner has lot his patience with Dan’s drinking, tardiness, arrogance … you name it. He’s fired. To make matters worse, he’s separated from his wife, living in a dump of an apartment, and losing touch with his teen daughter.
Watch the trailer for Begin Again here:
