On Saturday, PJ and I watched Begin Again, the latest movie by John Carney, the writer/director of Once. Keira Knightley stars as Gretta, an idealistic singer-songwriter who just wants to create art. When he boyfriend, played by Adam Levine, has an affair and unceremoniously dumps her, she’s about to go home to England when she runs into Dan Mulligan, played by Mark Ruffalo, a down-on-his-luck former record producer. They decide to make an album together. Here’s the trailer:

In many ways, like Once, this movie revolves around two things: music and a will-they-or-won’t-they-fall-in-love plot. I like the movie, even though it’s not as moving as Once, which is one of my favorite movies. But Knightley is very good, and Ruffalo is excellent.

My favorite part was the music. One song in particular stood out my favorite. As she writes her new album, Gretta gets inspired to write a break up song. She then calls her ex up and leaves it as a voicemail on his phone:

Overall, it’s a good movie, and I like Carney’s willingness to experiment with the romantic comedy.