Blu-rays, DVDs & more
eBay affliate link
Art of the Movies
Buy posters on MoviePoster.com
IMDb
Begin Again movie stills
Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes
Christy Lemire, ChristyLemire.com: The wholesome, hopeful, let's-put-on-a-show enthusiasm may sound hokey but it's actually infectiously joyful. At the same time, Carney roughs up the edges just enough to make this fairy tale seem somewhat accessible and realistic. Read more
Wesley Morris, Grantland: The trouble with this movie -- aside from its lack of visual wonder and musical shape -- is that you don't trust its priorities. Read more
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: I'm glad, I seriously am, that John Carney wants to make deeply and embarrassingly sincere musical movies, and I hope he keeps on making them, but let's also hope he realizes that when it comes to Once, once was enough. Read more
Kyle Smith, New York Post: If "Once" was a bracing blast of cool spring water, "Begin Again" is a can of Fanta. If "Once" was a piano, "Begin Again" is a keytar. If "Once" was Otis Redding, "Begin Again" is Bruno Mars. Read more
Rex Reed, New York Observer: Ms. Knightley isn't remotely believable as a bike-riding pop singer. The saving grace is Mark Ruffalo, the only actor on the premises who shows any grit or passion for his character or for the music business. Read more
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Carney deserves great credit for the movie's clever, layered structure, and for resisting a few obvious plot turns along the way. Lightning doesn't strike, but sunshine works, too. Read more
Peter Debruge, Variety: Another upbeat outing in which characters strum their way through tricky emotional situations. Read more
Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, AV Club: Little more than a corny, overstuffed, "let's put on a show" musical. Read more
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: The cast is, to a person, so likable and chummy that you want everyone to succeed. And the songs are hook-laden, easygoing numbers that are genuinely enjoyable. Read more
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: "Begin Again" is pleasantly predictable if you're in an undemanding mood. If you're not, it's unbearable, like hearing a treasured folk song given a Hot 97 makeover. Read more
J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Its soft-rock bonhomie [prevails] over a story that often registers as trite or naive. Read more
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: "Begin Again" feels more like a glorified retread of "Once" than something freshly imagined. Read more
Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: Begin Again is corny, improbable and generally a great deal of fun. Read more
Tom Long, Detroit News: "Begin Again" sets out to be a feel-good movie and, despite such obvious intentions, it thoroughly succeeds. Read more
Laremy Legel, Film.com: Plays like an endless and quickly tiresome string of movie montages. Read more
David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter: The film's quiet pleasures creep up on you. Read more
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Just when you are ready to completely write off "Begin Again," the music starts to play, the camera takes it all in and makes us a part of it, and the film's unpersuasive emotions don't seem to matter as much. Read more
Rafer Guzman, Newsday: "Begin Again" is an ode to the indie-rock spirit, but its music -- written by Carney and others -- is as safe, smooth and Starbucks-friendly as Norah Jones. Read more
David Denby, New Yorker: Another sappy but engaging musical fable from the Irish writer and director John Carney, who made "Once." Read more
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: There's something charming, even comforting about its predictability, and sweet about its tone. Read more
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Knightley does fine work, but she's been miscast. Her innate sophistication undermines the movie's intentions right off the bat. Read more
A.O. Scott, New York Times: A large part of the problem is that the music, which is supposed to provide heart, soul and artistic bona fides, ranges from passable to terrible. Read more
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Can a song save your life? And can an impossibly mushy, mawkish movie make you feel good? The answer to the second question, anyway, is yes. Read more
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: 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. Read more
Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: This is a real love story that's not about consummation or certainty, a variety we've all experienced in real life that only occasionally shows up in the movies. Read more
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: Carney is on to something in "Begin Again," some handle on a particular truth he's exploring, and he remains faithful to it through the finish. Read more
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Knightley brings emotional confusion into sharp, touching focus as the pair bond over nighttime strolls and the shared love of classic pop. Carney flips film cliches to keep us guessing. Read more
Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Doggedly indie but unpretentious, "Begin Again" is one of the best movies I've seen about the music industry and the ways it changes people whose paths diverge. Read more
Bruce Ingram, Chicago Sun-Times: You can't really blame writer-director John Carney for trying, but despite a few very nice moments, this bigger, slicker follow-up mostly argues that Once should have been enough. Read more
Christopher Orr, The Atlantic: The movie is moderately obsessed with the ideal of authenticity, which is a rather awkward position to champion given that it is a calculatedly more-commercial, less-authentic variation of a film, Once, that Carney had already made. Read more
Kate Taylor, Globe and Mail: Begin Again is a not-entirely-successful movie about not selling out; it's a theme that must concern Carney deeply. Read more
Peter Howell, Toronto Star: Can a meaningful glance mean as much as a kiss? In this film, it can, and that's enough. Read more
Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: It's a film you have to meet at least half-way. but once I did, I reveled in the charm, the romance, and most of all the bevy of terrific songs. Read more
TheWrap: There are times when the thing you want most is not a big, important movie but a simple, beautiful story told with sensitivity, warmth, humor and a big heart. Times when you don't need a movie to save your life, you just need a movie to make you feel good Read more
Claudia Puig, USA Today: Ruffalo and Knightley make an engaging pair of colleagues and their musical adventure together results in an enchanting, gently funny and occasionally poignant story. Read more
Alan Scherstuhl, Village Voice: All that prickly inner conflict Ruffalo is so adept at suggesting? Cheery Begin Again wants none of it, offering instead lots of scenes of two characters we don't believe could ever exist arguing about authenticity in pop music. Read more
David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: Carney's specialty is inching toward cliches, backing away from them, and inching back. He's not as pure as he thinks he is, but the footsie is very entertaining. Read more
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: "Begin Again" may not always swing, but it makes up for that in sincerity and a welcome willingness to ambush expectations. Read more