I re-cut Begin Again in chronological order.

I really like Begin Again, but I always question why it was edited the way it was, jumping back and forth in time. I watched the copy I have in my library and decided that I'm going to re-cut it in chronological order and see how it plays.

Before I retired, I was in show business in Hollywood from 1970 to 2003, TV usher to production assistant to union set dresser and assistant prop master. Also, in the mid 1980s after working on "Witness" and encouraged by the director Peter Weir, I took three years of screenwriting classes at the Hollywood branch of the American Film Institute, learning how scripts are put together, which made me realize why I liked certain movies and not others.

I was also a photographer between production jobs, and now the staff photographer for the Los Angeles Lawyers Philharmonic. With that, I dabble in videography, editing on my MacStudio and Final Cut Pro.

I did the re-cut and was pleasantly surprised how well it worked in chronological order. A good screenplay hits milestones at specific times; at the end of 1st quarter, the first act, an event happens that moves the story. At the midpoint of the second act, the two main characters have an emotional encounter. At the third quarter, the start of the third act, an event happens that moves the story to it's conclusion. In chronological order, Begin Again hits all those milestones perfectly.

The first change I made was in act one, meeting Dan (Mark Ruffalo) first and his difficulties with his family and job, intercut with Greta (Keira Knightly) and Dave (Adam Levine) coming to New York, dealing with his record company, her meeting old friend Steve (James Cordon). Then to Greta realizing Dave cheated and left him, then to Steve taking her in, then getting her up in the bar open mic to sing where a half drunk Dan is intrigued by her song and fantasizes the instruments behind her playing an arrangement. The end of act one is Dan offering to sign her.

The other change that really bothered me was the order of getting the musicians and rehearsing. After the scene of Steve setting up the Jaguar recording studio, I cut to Dan introducing the violin and cello siblings, then he goes to the pianist, then cut to just them rehearsing, then going to Trouble Gum (CeeLo Green), getting a bass player and drummer, then cut to all of them rehearsing.

I was thinking of contacting the writer/director John Carney about giving me permission to post the cut I made, but between the disclaimer at the end of the credit, "Unauthorized duplication, distribution or exhibition may result in civil liability and criminal prosecution" and his disparaging statements about Keira Knightly not being a 'real' actor that he had to retract later, I decided not to. I'll just leave it as a written description of what I did.

His statements were odd because as I analyze the original cut jumping time, it seems like it was an effort to make Greta the main character, but in my opinion, Dan is the main character, since he has a greater arc to fulfill. Greta is the catalyst to get him there, who also has an arc to fulfill. Which was the main reason I wanted to see it in chronological order.

Let me add that flashbacks are perfectly acceptable when they fit properly, but I don't consider the original cuts in Begin Again to be flashbacks.