Begin Again, premiered on Wednesday, July 2 in London, England, after its initial screening in 2013 at the Toronto Film Festival.
The film is a musical, romantic-comedy, drama, which stars Keira Knightley, Mark Ruffalo, James Corden, and Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine, in his first movie role.
Directed by John Carney, whose 2006 film Once -- a small Irish film that received good reviews -- had earned well at the box office.
According to the official synopsis, "Gretta (Keira Knightley) and her long-time boyfriend Dave (Adam Levine) are college sweethearts and songwriting partners who decamp for New York when he lands a deal with a major label. But the trappings of his new-found fame soon tempt Dave to stray, and a reeling, lovelorn Gretta is left on her own. Her world takes a turn for the better when Dan (Mark Ruffalo), a disgraced record-label exec, stumbles upon her performing on an East Village stage and is immediately captivated by her raw talent. From this chance encounter emerges an enchanting portrait of a mutually transformative collaboration, set to the soundtrack of a summer in New York City."
The film has earned positive reviews, with Rolling Stone calling the movie "Irrestistable, funny and romantic," and Vanity Fair saying that it has "enough wistful charm to make it a winning alternative to the loud rattle of all the summer blockbusters surrounding it."
Praises were heaped upon Knightley, who makes her movie musical debut in this film. In an interview with MTV, the 29-year old actress revealed that she quite fancies the idea of being a pop star.
"I quite like the idea of being like a really shiny pop star with the Katy Perry twizzly tits" Knightley said. "I always sort of fancied [that]. Like, 'Wow, how can you get twizzly tits?' I want to do that. And like tigers and sort of like a whole circus sort of theme park. It's going to be amazing. It'll be a whole new persona. Tigers and twizzly tits!"
But the real revelation in the movie is Levine's performance. The Maroon 5 lead singer's film debut has critics applauding it for being "startlingly" or "unexpectedly" good.
Levine has shared that he will do anything without pay as long as he learns well from the experience. "I did this movie for no money," the singer said in an interview with USA Today. "I'm very lucky that I'm in that position."
