Film review: Can a Song Save Your Life? (Begin Again)
She is all about authenticity and giving the music industry the middle finger. She has some talent, but she is not looking for any big gigs anytime soon, and yet she seems rather depressed. When she takes to the stage in the first scene, it is with great reluctance, and after she’s finished her song, there is little applause and a lot of talking, but not about her.
Her name is Gretta (Keira Knightley), and she is heartbroken, which means, of course, that the songs she writes are pure and heartfelt. Perhaps, but her onstage presence in that first scene is so uncharismatic she might as well be wearing a veil and singing a lullaby.
As luck would have it, however, there is a record producer in the audience, and he wants to sign her. The bad news? He’s not really a producer (at any rate, not anymore, because of some personal problems), but he does share her disgust with the industry, and somehow the two of them immediately make a connection.
To read the full review, visit The Prague Post. The copy viewed at the press screening had the title Can a Song Save Your Life?, although in many markets the film will be distributed as Begin Again.
(Still of Keira Knightley and Adam Levine in Begin Again. Photo by Andrew Schwartz – © 2014 The Weinstein Company. All rights reserved.)
