I recently tried to rewatch some movies produced circa 2012-2015 apart from my usual anime, k-drama/film routine. There's one movie that I keep watching during pumpkin season or just overall september since the last 6 years or so. It's called Begin again directed and written by John Carney who often directs and writes movie about struggling musician and romanticize it. His filmography isn't a lot but if you enjoy movie with fine musical performances, do check out his work. Begin again is a movie that he directed and wrote back in 2013. It received mixed criticism and even Carney was slightly disappointed with Keira's knightley performance but to me, the movie left a huge impression because all the soundtracks were melodic.

Centered around the story of a hasbeens alcoholic record label executive, Dan Mulligan(Mark Ruffalo) and an indie singer songwriter Greta James(Keira Knightley), Begin again is quite lovely to watch during september. It has the atmosphere of late summer to autumn where leaves start to change their color and wither beautifully. As you see on the scenes, the colors were also dominated with a soft summer atmosphere and muted autumn. It also features places that are quite romantic to visit during late summer and autumn. As the plot unfolds, it has some music that sort of represents the feeling and situation of the character at the time. To me, the chemistry between Adam Levine and Keira was something, it wasn't something outstanding but Keira does her job pretty well despite criticism by Carney. The songs are also the highlight of this movie and now, you can find them around youtube and especially “lost stars” have been covered numerous times by different artists. In this movie, you will also see Keira’s singing performances as she sings about 3 songs.

At the beginning of the movie, Greta(Keira knightley) was only "tagging along" his soon to be rockstar boyfriend Dave Kohl (adam levine). They both migrated from England to New York City because Kohl is signing up with a record label. Their lives transformed completely as Dave started to get busier organizing tours and with his work. That left Greta all alone discovering new york city until one day, Dave asked greta to listen a song that he just wrote while he was in LA, called " A Higher Place" and for some crazy reason, from the lyric Greta knew Kohl was cheating on her and slapped Dave and turned the music off. Then, Dave came and confessed that he was cheating with the girl from the record label whom he just met a month ago. It's really painful to hear when Dave said " Maybe it'll go away, maybe it'll fade, I just, I have to see it through". Then followed by the scene where Greta walks late at night in NYC with her bicycle.

As their separation begins, Greta left Dave and stayed at Steve(James Corden)'s place, Greta's friend. While going through a painful breakup, Steve encouraged Greta to come to a pub. She eventually sings " a step you can't take back". This is where Dan Mulligan(Mark Ruffalo) discovers an unpolished gem, Greta. He was smitten with her voice and even visualized how the music would have been better with a band behind her. At first, Greta wasn't convinced but later on, she willingly took the leap and decided to work with Dan who felt that finally he had hope to lift himself up from his current depressed state. Working with Greta uplifted his spirit and he decided to better his life and eventually rekindle his relationship with his estranged wife.

Their musical journey wasn't easy as there was no record label that wanted to take Greta, so they decided to produce their music on their own. They recorded in so many places and even almost got arrested by police. Seeing the scenes where they recorded it was so uplifting, so much joy radiated and even the thrills was perfectly illustrated in the movie. One of the fun places they recorded was in a tiny alley with a few kids around and Greta with her band was singing " Coming up roses". They also featured the children to sing along with them. Almost at the end of the movie, Greta met Dave where he sings one of the most famous soundtracks of the movie, "lost stars".

At this point, I remember the scripts, the songs and scenes so vividly. One of my favorite scenes was when they first arrived in NYC and Greta was recording their journey with her iPhone from the back of the cab with Dave; that scene is so familiar and I guess many could relate. This is the only movie that I manage to watch countless times without ever feeling like I had enough. I watched some other movies with good soundtracks and even movies with similar themes but beginning again would still have a special place for me. Overall, I am giving it 8.5 out of 10 despite my great praise of the movie. That's because I enjoy everything from its filmography to the actors, especially the songs. I still see some loopholes here and there and things that could be improved on. If you haven't watched this one, give it a try. Maybe you'd fall in love with the songs just like I do.