My beau and I went on a date night on Saturday to check out the just-released film Begin Again, the latest from John Carney.

I watched Once and fell in love with the music and the story, so knew this film would be mandatory viewing. While Begin Again doesn’t have the same gritty charm of Carney’s former film and it has not received the same gushing critical acclaim, I was still swept away by the music and the characters.

The rumpled charm of Mark Ruffalo and the ever-effervescent Kiera Knightly’s general ability to be incredible at everything she does made the film pleasant to watch. Overall, the story is heartwarming and sweet, the tale of “lost souls” being saved through music. I generally loved the film, in spite of my aversion toward Adam Levine, who plays the (thankfully) hateable character, which generally meant that I was OK his place in the film. I felt that he suited the role well, although he did not add any real dimension to the character, other than playing the douchy sell-out.

I know there are some critical flaws in the movie and that it might not hold up to the same standard of perfection as it’s predecessor Once, but I think my overwhelming love for the film comes from feeling like the film does a good job making you care about the characters, which is the heart of good storytelling. It also did not rely on some cliched tropes that are most rom-coms are rife with while achieving a feeling of honesty and authenticity for Greta (Kiera) and Dan (Mark).

So if you want to spend an evening floating through NYC on a cloud of music, it is a movie to check out. However, you may find that you must then spend the next week listening to its soundtrack on an endless loop. To whet your palette, here are two sweet musical snacks:

Now to convince my beau to wander the streets with me at night listening to great music…

Tiny Lovely Observations

A few points from outside the mean of daily life; a sparkle that darts out of the standard deviation and dares to make life a tiny bit more beautiful.