Critic Reviews

John Carney, who wrote and directed "Once," has made another great film that focuses on songwriters and the way their lives influence their work.

Begin Again is as uncynical and unironic a film as I've seen in a while, which will no doubt be a turn-off to many. But like a catchy summer jam, it doesn't need to apologize for being exactly what it is, nor do its fans have to feel guilty for getting it stuck in their heads.

The film’s quiet pleasures creep up on you.

A film that lays emotions on the line and then drives them home with music.

Begin Again is a joyous movie about the good things in life: love, family, relationships, New York, creativity and music. And Knightley and Ruffalo make for one of the most unusual engaging couples of the year.

What makes it special is that it’s not another romance about finding a man. It’s about finding your people, about being a bit lost in your twenties and not knowing who you are or what you want to be. And it’s got bucketfuls of charm.

The sum total is a film with great music, a great story and a great vibe in general -- not to mention those Carney-crafted moments, built around joy, possibility and self-transformation. In other words: Carney has given us another pearl.

It's a film that lives in the high and not in the comedown, even though its characters are often stalled and wallowing.

It's rare to find a movie that uses music to define love without sentimentalizing it. But Begin Again, with songs by Glen Hansard and New Radicals frontman Gregg Alexander, is a wonderfully appealing exception.

Ruffalo and Knightley make an engaging pair of colleagues and their musical adventure together results in an enchanting, gently funny and occasionally poignant story.