Saturday, July 19, 2014

Born Again

Plot: Washed-up music producer and record label owner Dan (Mark Ruffalo) meets heart-broken, depressed songwriter Gretta (Keira Knightley), and they make an album outside in different NYC neighborhoods. We meet Dan's teenage daughter Violet (Hailee Steinfeld) and his estranged wife Miriam (Catherine Keener) along the way. Keira channels her troubles into her music, and when the project is done, everything seems better. [imdb]    [photos]

Review: Kira Knightley and Mark Ruffalo are great, and the movie is fun to watch. Who knew that Kira Knightley could sing? 

Born Again is a light drama about people in New York City making an album. It is not a musical, but there is a magical reality element where things kind of work out -- we get some satire about the music industry though. The music making is overlaid on a soap opera plot involving Gretta's break up with her boyfriend (James Corden) and Dan's relationship with his wife Miriam and daughter Violet.

There are a lot of singing scenes, but the music isn't boring -- the visuals are interesting, and the music is well integrated into the story. I liked the Kira Knightley songs better than the others.  I might just buy "Everythings Coming Up Roses,"

Some of the visuals of New York are pretty cool. 

Cast: Kira Knightley, Mark Ruffalo, James Corden, Katherine Keener, Hailee Steinfeld

Directed by: John Carne

Rating: 3.0 stars: Well acted and fun to watch


More: .The songs are written by a whole committee: Gregg Alexander co-wrote songs for the film with Danielle Brisebois, Nick Lashley, Rick Nowels and Nick Southwood. John Carney and Glen Hansard also contributed as songwriters for the film's music. The featured song Lost Stars was written by Gregg Alexander, Danielle Brisebois, Nick Lashley and Nick Southwood.

Even More.
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