Film Review: Begin Again

Music and the recording process is a mind-enhancing experience that doesn’t always have to be backed by a major record label to find an audience.

beginagain

Begin Again starts off with two people trying to find their footing after experiencing each of their own life wrecking circumstances. Greta (Keira Knightley) is a quiet, reserved songwriter who forms a musical collaboration with her boyfriend, Dave. She helps him in writing songs as he signs to a record label and rises to stardom. After botching a once harmonious song of Greta’s, Dave ditches her to go onto the musical big leagues. Gretta, having moved to New York City from England, feels lost and not sure what to do.

On the night before her plane ride back to England, her friend (played by a very funny James Corden) encourages her to step up to the mic to perform a song. Her performance attracts the attention of Dan, a disgraced music executive(Mark Ruffalo).

Dan sees the potential in her and later encourages her to record an album in hopes of getting a record deal at the record label he used to own.

“I’m not some Judy Garland who stepped off a plane for stardom”

The quote above is a line that Greta says to Dan when he initially tries to sign her. This movie isn’t some cliche story about a woman chasing her dreams of a record deal. From the encounter, Dan and Greta go on to form a musical bond, igniting the idea of recording an album to the sound of New York City.

beginagain2
Disclaimer: This film may encourage you to buy a headphone splitter

Greta has been dumped by the passion project of songwriting she did for her boyfriend’s album. Dan is a recovering alcoholic that has been recently fired from the music label he helped found. Despite the bad circumstances, the film maintains a spirited nature of the creative journey to recording an album. Dan and Greta travel around New York City, taking in the scenery of Times Square and city rooftops to record the album.

The film is appropriately titled Begin Again due to the flashbacks at the start of the film. At the beginning of the film, flashback sequences are show of Greta and Dan separately, showing how they ended up down on their luck and meeting at the cafe. The original title for when the film was screened at last year’s Toronto Film Festival, was Can a Song Save Your Life?

After watching the film, I don’t really know how to exactly answer this question. The answer could be a resounding ‘yes’, but not with 100% certainty. The songs featured in the film weren’t very memorable after viewing. After leaving the theater, your mind probably won’t be pounding with musical tunes on repeat. It’s okay, though.

Begin Again is refreshing for many reasons:

  • Seeing Keira Knightly in a non-period piece
  • Adam Levine in his feature film acting debut…and he’s pretty good.
  • A big fancy record deal isn’t always to best solution
  • A musical community can be built with a dedicated vision and a few good musicians
  • After watching the film, you’ll probably want to visit New York City…and grab some coffee

beginagain3The list can go on but all in all, Begin Again is one of those films you watch to embrace a feel-good nature. Mark Ruffalo makes for a great drunken, scruffy music exec. James Corden brings laughs and a somewhat scene-stealing nature in his performance as Greta’s best friend and musical supporter. A nifty singing voicemail scene and New York City scenery make this film a worthwhile watch. Something different than its big budget, summer counterparts. B+

Film Review: Jack Ryan Shadow Recruit

Jack Ryan is back, this time going to Moscow to stop a Russian radical from  collapsing the U.S. economy. 2002’s The Sum of All Fears (with Ben Affleck in the main role) was the last time the Jack Ryan character has seen the big screen.  The late Tom Clancy started the successful literary series. Now five films in the film lineup, with Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, and Ben Affleck all having a slice of the Jack Ryan pie, the film series has a  history of reaping box office success (despite mixed critical reviews).

Plot: College-aged Jack Ryan (Chris Pine) decides to join the Marines following the 9/11 attacks. the decision to join leaves him skeptical and wanting more. A helicopter crash leaves him injured, retired from the military, and wondering what to do next. In comes mentor Thomas Harper (Kevin Costner). Harper recruits Ryan into the CIA, having him investigate companies on Wall Street suspected of funding terrorist actions. In the standard action move, Ryan discovers a plan by Russian radicals to collapse the U.S. economy via various transactions. Ryan is tasked with taking down the head of the operation Viktor Cherevin (Kenneth Branagh, who also directs) while holding together his complicated relationship with longtime girlfriend Dr. Cathy Muller (Keira Knightley).

Main Point: Everyone loves a good action/spy flick and this film , with it’s standard set of action intense scenes, satisfies that without being to over top.

movies-jack-ryan-shadow-recruit-poster

The Jack Ryan name has been mostly forgotten following a string of successful action films in the past 12 years mostly due to the successful James Bond and Bourne film series. Action packed scenes and witty dialogue keep the viewer’s attention intact during the whole ride of 100 minutes runtime. The starring cast fill their roles well and Branagh, who has previous directed Thor, finds his filmmaking niche. The camerawork is great, shots done well, and the actors know what to do without feeling dull.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is a great, solid film. The film’s MLK weekend opening didn’t attract quite the audience it was targeting (most of audience was over 50 rather than 18-25) it still holds well with it’s near 18 million debut opening. Go forth and watch it if you feel an adventurous itch inside or are tired of seeing the standard weepy rom-com’s and parodies this time of year. B+