Begin Again (2013) on Netflix
Gretta, a songwriter from England, breaks up with Dave, her songwriting partner, after his affair. Dan, a recently fired record executive, hears her sing and proposes they make an album together.
- Netflix3.9/5
- IMDb7.4/10178,276 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes83%
Trailer
Plot summary
Dan Mulligan is a New York record executive who was fired while his daughter Violet watched, and he lives apart from his wife Miriam. Out drinking, he wanders into a Lower East Side club where Gretta James is on stage. Gretta is a songwriter from England; her longtime boyfriend and songwriting partner, Dave Kohl, has become a successful musician, and she has ended the relationship after discovering that he was involved with a production assistant. Dan wants to sign her to the label that let him go. Saul, his business partner at the label, sees no potential in her. Undeterred, Dan proposes the two of them make an album themselves over the summer, recorded live at public spots around the city, with musicians they gather, among them Steve, a busker.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Begin Again (2013)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Singer Adam Levine was the only person John Carney considered for the role of Dave; he won it by talking with Carney over Skype and recording an audition, declined to be paid, and the film became his first-ever movie role.
- Before Keira Knightley was cast as Gretta, Carney had considered a pop singer such as Adele for the part, and actress Scarlett Johansson was at one point attached to play the role.
- James Corden was recruited after Carney admired his lead performance in the Broadway show One Man, Two Guvnors; Corden shot his scenes for the film during the day while continuing to perform the play live every evening.
- To keep costs down, the crew shot some scenes, including one in Times Square, late at night with a handheld camera and no extras, while the actors mimed their songs to pre-recorded tracks rather than singing live.
- The film became an unexpected hit in South Korea, where its box-office take grew to $41.4 million, nearly half of the movie's entire worldwide gross.
- After director John Carney publicly criticized Keira Knightley's work on this film years later, fellow filmmakers Massy Tadjedin, Mark Romanek, Lorene Scafaria and Lynn Shelton, who had worked with her themselves, spoke up in her defense; Carney then apologized, saying he felt like "a complete idiot" and that she had been "nothing but professional and dedicated" during filming.
