“Don’t compare it to Once, don’t compare it to Once, don’t compare it to Once, don’t compare it to-”

Nope, can’t do it. It’s not fair, of course. The only thing Once and Begin Again share is writer/director John Carney. This film has an otherwise completely different cast and crew. But thanks to our director-worshiping film culture, a lot of film fans will be going into Begin Again ready to contrast it with Once. And it is not a favorable contrast. Of course, Begin Again is still plainly shoddy without that frame of reference, but it certainly makes it worse. So you’ll still probably dislike it even if you haven’t seen Once. And if you haven’t seen that, you really should do so and pay this film no further mind.

It doesn’t help that Carney’s script seems to be inviting the comparison. Both movies focus on a man and woman finding each other by chance and then making music together. Both are musicals that use entirely diegetic songs. Both deal with themes of heartbreak and repairing oneself through creative endeavors. But where Once found magic in simplicity and wonderful songs, Begin Again can muster no potent reaction, with an approach that’s very commercial, which is ironic when one considers its plot.

The story follows the adventures of Gretta (Keira Knightley), an adrift musician about to leave New York and return to Britain, and Dan (Mark Ruffalo), a record label exec who’s just quit his job because he couldn’t stand the unhip corporate scene any longer. When Dan hears Gretta sing, he’s convinced he can use her to front the cool new sound he wants to produce now that he’s on his own. After some prodding, she agrees to the collaboration, and the two embark on a project that enriches them both musically and personally. So inspiring, in theory.

Begin Again practices the Fault in Our Stars brand of sincerity that’s so earnest and unironic that it warps back around to feeling cynical. It’s an unavoidable side effect of delivering a hackneyed message about back-to-basics, non-commodified art with major Hollywood stars. Every beat is so flagrantly calculated that it can’t instill any emotion. Sequences of heightened stylization, such as Dan imagining a host of instruments without players backing up Gretta’s singing, are supposed to give the movie artistic cred, but they’re nothing but safe. The same extends to the central conceit of Dan and Gretta’s album, which is to record their songs in public spaces without filtering out the background audio. Setting aside whether this is plausible (I am musically illiterate and have no idea), it still sounds like the first idea an out-of-touch producer would have when asked for something new.

The music itself is… okay. The songs were written mainly by Gregg Alexander, with a host of others helping him, including main Once crooner Glen Hansard. Every piece in Once was infused with heart, likely because each one had gone through years of fine-tuning before appearing in the film. But Alexander can’t measure up to The Frames, and Knightley and the other singers have neither Hansard’s intensity nor Markéta Irglová’s haunting soulfulness. The soundtrack is nice enough, but it’s difficult to recall a single lyric or melody.

That sense of iffy adequacy extends to the cast. Knightley and Ruffalo have personality but little chemistry together (though the movie thankfully doesn’t force a romance between them). Catherine Keener and Hailee Steinfeld show up as Dan’s estranged wife and daughter, and do little more beyond said showing up. The best part probably belongs to James Corden as Knightley’s kindly host. Where the movie sinks is in embarrassing well-known musicians. CeeLo Green playing a saintly singer who enables the protagonists to embark on their quest with a financial grant comes across as self-serving. Though that’s not as bad as Yasiin Bey’s painfully stilted performance as Dan’s now-former business partner. Strangely, Adam Levine manages a pass as Gretta’s ex-boyfriend, though it’s more that the role utilizes his natural douchiness than any talent on his part.

I will cheerlead for more non-traditional musicals from now until the day I die, but I don’t want them to be like Begin Again. Just watch Once. If you’ve never seen it, you’re welcome. If you’ve seen it a hundred times, it’s still just as good.

Grade: C-