Begin Again is a 2013 American musical comedy-drama film written and directed by John Carney, and starring Keira Knightley and Mark Ruffalo.

Formerly successful record label executive Dan Mulligan lives in New York City, estranged from his wife Miriam and struggling to keep up with the changing music industry.

Recruiting a team of talented musicians, including Steve (a busker and an old best friend of Gretta's), Dan sets out to make an album worthy of being published.

During this time, Dan and Gretta bond both personally and professionally, and she takes his teenage daughter Violet, a fledgling guitarist, under her wing and encourages her to play on the album.

When Gretta sees Dave accepting an award on television, she criticizes him for selling out to the music industry and, with the help of Steve, she expresses her grievances with him in a song which she records on his voicemail.

Watching him play, Gretta is initially happy to hear their song as she envisioned, but when the audience starts to cheer as it climaxes, she realizes that too much has changed.

[2] The story was partly inspired by his own experiences as a musician in a band,[2] and from his impression of the artists and repertoire (A&R) executives of record labels during the 1990s, which formed the basis of Dan's character.

When asked about the critical reaction to Sing Street by The Independent, Carney responded unprompted that "it's a small personal movie with no Keira Knightleys in it.

"[19] In the same interview, Carney also referred to her repeatedly as a model, despite the fact that Knightley had been working professionally as an actress since childhood, saying "I'll never make a film with supermodels again."

"[20] Though he did not specifically name Knightley, he did, in an interview with Den of Geek, say that his desire to make Sing Street came from his "experience of working, let's face it, with a model on my last film".

[21] Filmmakers Massy Tadjedin, Mark Romanek, Lorene Scafaria and Lynn Shelton, who had worked with Knightley on other films, tweeted their support for her after Carney's comments.

The website's critical consensus reads, "Writer-director John Carney's return to musical drama isn't quite as potent as it was with Once, but thanks to charming work from its well-matched leads, Begin Again is difficult to resist.

[34] Rolling Stone critic Peter Travers gave Begin Again three out of four stars, praising the "subtle magic" of the lead actors' performances and Carney's creation of "surreal, enchanting loveliness" without being overly sentimental.

[35] Ian Freer of Empire awarded the film four out of five stars, describing it as "lovely stuff, winningly played, open-hearted and guaranteed to slap on a smile on a balmy summer night.

[40] Similarly, A. O. Scott of The New York Times wrote that Begin Again was a "disappointing, overly produced follow-up" to Once and found it "not very good, but ... kind of enjoyable.

"[41] In a review for The Guardian, Paul MacInnes awarded the film 2 out of 5 stars and described it as "a movie obsessed with authenticity but as phony as a Miley Cyrus dance routine.

"[42] The Chicago Sun-Times critic Bruce Ingram also found the film hypocritical, noting "the slightly bogus vibe" of the song performances that had been recorded in a studio but were meant to be played live.