Begin Again **½ (R) Mark Ruffalo plays a formerly hip record producer who managed to drink and drug his way out of his marriage (to Catherine Keener), alienating his daughter (Hailee Steinfeld), and getting himself booted from the label he founded by his former partner (Mos Def). Utterly defeated by all of this, he stumbles into a seedy little Brooklyn bar to find a timid singer (Keira Knightley), largely ignored by the small crowd as she offers one of her own mournful ballads. We learn she had been the romantic and writing partner of a rising pop star (Adam Levine), whose sudden success led him to dump her as soon as he went on tour. She’s licking her wounds while staying with an old pal who cajoled her into performing on his little stage just in time to be "discovered" by Ruffalo.
The rest is a shared quest for redemption. Ruffalo gives Knightley a chance to let her talents shine on her own; she just might be his ticket back into the biz. They may also fall in love; or he might work his way back into the hearts of his wife and daughter. Their process will lie in producing an album on a shoestring with a lot of help from some friends. They’re almost a latter-day Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland puttin’ on a show in the old barn to save the....whatever. Knightley’s debut as a singer is central to the plot and the tone of the whole project. Her voice is weak and reedy, but adequately soulful for her spotlight-averse character.
We arrive at her initial performance three times, each preceded by backstories of how she and Ruffalo wound up there. The film’s best scene arrives early, as writer/director John Carney cleverly lets us see and hear her from inside Ruffalo’s head. The rest plays out with an innocent form of rebellion that teeters between free-wheeling fun and contrived cuteness. The ending offers a different form of redemption, though explaining that would constitute a major spoiler. Fans of the two stars will be pleased - especially with her stretch into this new dimension as a performer; Levine’s fans may lament his relatively short screen time. Those who enjoy the type of mellow folk rock tunes they’re crafting will be the happiest. Compared to recent comparable fare, Knightley’s character is much easier to root for than Llewyn Davis. (7/2/14)