ONCE UPON A NEW YORK AVENUE // A FILM REVIEW OF "BEGIN AGAIN"

BY W. DEREK JORDEN

What a feel-good New York movie! BEGIN AGAIN, written and directed by John Carney (Once) is a story about the beautiful redemption one can find in this great city. After defeats and major failures, bad habits and too many hungover mornings strung together, you can pick yourself up by the bootstraps, trust your skills and intuitions, mix in equal parts hard work, scary risk, and passionate pursuit and good things will come. 

That’s what happens with Dan Mulligan (Mark Ruffalo). After he gets fired from the record label he co-founded and ditched by his wife because of his consistent shenanigans, he hears a sound on a drunken night at Arlene’s Grocery that starts to turn it all around. That sound is the angelic voice of singer/songwriter Gretta James (Kiera Knightley) who is in town providing moral and writing support for her boyfriend Dave Kohl (Adam Levine) as he is recording a new hit album himself. Cool shaggy-mopped blazer-wearing classic-Jaguar-driving Dan hears something special in pretty Gretta, and as Dave sells out to the music industry, Dan and Gretta stay true to their hearts. It pays off.

The soundtrack, mostly written by Gregg Alexander will undoubtedly receive some attention as it is not only a number of catchy songs that could stand well on their own, but well in tune with the vibe of the movie. As a rom-com musical, there are several music industry faces that pop up. It’s Adam Levine’s first time acting in a movie and you can tell; it’s Kiera Knightley’s first time singing in a movie but she does well; Mos Def plays Mulligan’s record label co-founder; CeeLo Green plays big time producer TroubleGum and is funny; even James Corden (amateur opera singer in last year’s One Chance) does a great job as Gretta’s best friend making us laugh between his busking sessions in Union Square.

Ruffalo and Knightley have an exciting chemistry together that begins in amicability, grows to a delightful fondness and serious trust and even teeters for a moment on the edge of romantic. They work together to make an album that, in the world of the film, will bring joy and inspiration to an entire city, and to make a movie, in this world, that did the same. 

DEREK'S GRADE: A

Written and Directed by John Carney Starring Kiera Kightley, Mark Ruffalo, James Corden and Adam Levine

Rated R

FINAL THOUGHTS: With a soundtrack that will rival some of the best indie pop albums this year layered on top of great shots from recognizable spots all around the city and meaningful performances from Ruffalo, Knightley and Corden, this movie will reinvigorate what you came to this city to do: follow your dreams.

W. DEREK JORDEN is an actor currently living and working in New York City. He and his wife live on a Spaceship on the top of a building, which makes for some interesting dinner parties.

A NEW RYAN // A FILM REVIEW OF "JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT"

BY DEREK JORDEN

Prolific author Tom Clancy, who passed away last fall, created a vast and detailed world in which Jack Ryan not only lived but even rose to the Presidency of the United States after a 747 was deliberately flown into the US Capitol building killing a majority of the US government leaving Jack, as a congressman, now the Leader of the Free World. Tom Clancy wrote thirteen books in which Jack Ryan appeared, four of which became movies. This movie is not one of them, and is the first Jack Ryan movie that did not come from a Tom Clancy novel. Jack Ryan has been around awhile. He was revealed in one of Clancy’s first novels in 1984. Some big names have played Jack Ryan on the silver screen: Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck. Director/actor Kenneth Branagh’s latest installment showcasing this world-saving character casts Chris Pine in an updated version intended to bring some new power to this epic franchise.

There are several deviations in this movie, as this Jack Ryan is not the exact same character Clancy first brought forth. He wasn’t born in 1950. The story happens in modern day, even opening with Ryan as a student at the London School of Economics on the day the Twin Towers fell. Driven to service by the scene that unfolded on that fateful September morning, Jack Ryan soldiers up with the US Marine Corps. In that training he learns a skill set necessary to carry him through the action of Shadow Recruit.

Chris Pine plays a believable Ryan. With brains and brawn, he also brings an integrity and authenticity that any Jack Ryan character regardless of decade demands, especially against an antagonist like Branagh’s Viktor Cherevin, cold and calculated, and only steps from sending our beloved America into financial ruin! I recently heard an argument that Kevin Costner is only good in sports movies: Field of Dreams, Bull Durham, Tin Cup, hey, maybe even this spring’s Draft Day?! But I disagree. Maybe I’m a KC fan--one of few people I know that really dug Waterworld--but as Jack Ryan’s recruiter and senior advisor in this discreet spy life, Kevin Costner does a splendid job. Maybe he had a lot to offer the role because two decades ago Kevin Costner was offered to play Jack Ryan but was too busy on Dances With Wolves. Kiera Knightley is adept at playing a role that has been shared by Bridget Moynahan and Anne Archer.  

There are a few too many things I don’t believe--mostly small details--but with just enough impact for me to call “bullshit”! Is a swanky Tribeca candlelit restaurant really going to have a bigscreen TV blasting financial news over dinner? Is a minor shoulder collision really enough to snag a wallet from a super cautious and security-minded individual...and then put it back again? And there’s plenty more. Unfortunately, enough to make me wonder if Chris Pine will have a chance to play this character ever again.

DEREK'S GRADE: B-

Written by Adam Cozad, David Koepp, (with characters created by Tom Clancy) Directed by Kenneth Branagh Starring Chris Pine, Kiera Knightley, Kevin Costner, Kenneth Branagh

Rated PG -13

FINAL THOUGHTS: Shadow Recruit has some great action, neat technology, and a great CGI of an explosion in the East River next to the Brooklyn Bridge that makes us so appreciative of Jack Ryan’s and Chris Pine’s skill. But the skill of the storymakers here lacks, and the film gets shaky before the bomb even goes off.

W. DEREK JORDEN is an actor currently living and working in New York City. He and his wife live on a Spaceship on the top of a building, which makes for some interesting dinner parties.