First things first, I loved this movie. It’s the best music movie I have seen since Almost Famous (which is THE best). It came out in limited release in a few months ago and recently has been released on a wider basis. From John Carney, the director of the movie “Once”, the premise of the movie, which takes place in New York City, centers around two people from very different ends of the music business. Dan (Mark Ruffalo) is a washed up record exec who is disillusioned with the state of today’s music (this resonated) and Gretta (Keira Knightly) who is part of a singer-songwriter team with her boyfriend, Dave Kohl (a great Adam Levine), who drops her for another girl after a weekend trip to LA. Dan and Gretta cross paths at an open mic night in a bar, as they are both hitting bottom. I won’t spoil it but what happens from here is magic. (Though I will mention a priceless early scene where Dan is driving around the city listening to (and chucking out his window) CDs submitted by artists looking for a record deal.) The supporting cast also must be mentioned: Mos Def as Saul, Dan’s partner; Catherine Keener as his ex-wife Miriam; Hailee Steinfeld as his daughter Olivia; and Dan Corden as Gretta’s musician friend Steve, who takes her in (and Ceelo Green who is exceptional in an un-credited role as a mega rich rapper and one of Dan’s early clients). They are all spot-on. Begin Again has numerous opportunities to take wrong turns down the roads of cliché and expected Hollywood outcome and to its credit takes none of them. It was very refreshing . It’s a cool story with great acting and good music (Some reviews were critical of Knightly’s singing. I have to say I thought she had a nice voice for the songs). In the end it’s a story about the restorative power of music. To quote from Almost Famous , “…what to you love about music?”