Begin Again

I wonder how many people who paid good money to see this came away wishing they had known better. Some cleaver visuals can’t make up for a laboured, swear fest script, and hammy performances... by people we know can do better – that is, if given the right ingredients. We’ve seen and heard it all before but thankfully, better than we are saddled with here. This may suit the ‘music’ followers, the genre obsessed, or fans of the stars but might prove highly torturous for many others.

This is a great movie with lots of positive messages about going for your dreams etc. This movie has an extreme amount of language which would not be suitable for young kids. It also has a moderate amount of sexual references (man asking his ex wife who she has been sleeping with etc). Overall this is an amazing movie with a great cast, music, story and I would definitely recommend.

The film opens in a very unique way, showing the moment of happenstance where a hurting songwriter and a down-on-his-luck music producer meet. Now is it groundbreaking...no. We've seen the alcoholic dad fighting his way back from losing his job trope before. But the film is so light and musical that it blends well and complements the film's darker moments. Ruffalo and Knightley are a delight to watch, and I was crossing my fingers that the film wouldn't go where I thought it was gonna go, and holy smokes it didn't! It hits your heart pretty harshly, especially if you've gone through an on again off again breakup, but it's also therapeutic, and it's never too late to...well, you see the title. Cee-Lo Green makes a charming cameo (he can't be in it for more than three minutes, despite being billed on the poster), and Adam Levine is a lot better than you'd think. There's quite a bit of language, mostly from Ruffalo's frustrated Dan. He also drinks and smokes quite a bit.

My kids are into music and I had a feeling they'd love this movie. I saw it first to see why the R rating. Granted there is drinking and smoking, talk of infidelity (on two occasions) and some bad language, but the message is positive and focuses on forgiveness and standing on your own two feet. Plus the music is amazing, Keira Knightly and Mark Ruffalo are great together and I'd rate the violence at 1 (one sucker punch) and sex/nudity at 0. The dozen or so F-bombs are what, in my opinion, keep it from being PG-13. I think it's perfectly fine to expect kids to witness bad behavior and understand that because other people do it (smoking, drinking, swearing) doesn't make it OK.

This film is rated R mostly for language--so if that's not an issue for you, take your teens to see it. My critically-minded 15-year-old LOVED it and called it her new favorite movie. Think Once with a much happier ending, family redemption, a positive music vibe, and a view of women that is very positive. It deals realistically with issues of parent/teen strife, marital strife, extra-marital attraction (without actually going there--for once!), and struggling to make it in the music industry. Plus Mark Ruffalo is amazing.