Begin Again doesn't go deep enough with the characters [Review]
Gretta (Keira Knightley), a shy English singer-songwriter, finds her happy little world facing new challenges when she moves to New York City with her boyfriend, an up-and-coming musician.
Meanwhile, a down-and-out record executive (Mark Ruffalo) is hitting rock bottom. He's just been sacked from the company he helped found, he's separated from his wife and daughter (who is growing up much too fast) and he's flat broke.
Depressed, he stumbles into a bar where a sad and newly single Gretta happens to be doing an impromptu performance. The two soon get talking and hatch a wild plan to record a live album on the streets of New York. Of course, everything soon works out perfectly.
Knightley plays the undaunted victim well, and Ruffalo gets our sympathy as the disgraced father and businessman. Adam Levine is believable as Gretta's rock-star boyfriend when he sings - but his acting has no depth.
That's the problem with Begin Again in general: it never goes deep into the struggles and stories of the characters. But at least the music can distract us.