‘Can A Song Save Your Life’ is from writer/director John Carney who brought us the music filled romantic drama ‘Once’, winner of the Oscar (2006) for best original song. Carney’s ‘Can A Song Save Your Life’ is his latest tale of love, music and dreamers who sing and strum their way through life’s emotional turmoil. ‘Can A Song Save Your Life’ follows songstress Greta (Keira Knightley) who by chance meets a washed up music producer, Dan (Mark Ruffalo) after a tortuous breakup with her rock-star musician boyfriend, Dave (Adam Levine).

Carney takes precariously cheesy subject matter; love and music and presents it in an authentic way, allowing his characters to express a surprisingly tender and deep range of emotions to tell their stories. Mark Ruffalo gives an exceptional performance as the broken down A & R rep. He’s lost his job, his wife and his home and from the get-go everything Ruffalo’s character does screams; ‘I AM LOST, I AM BROKEN’. You can almost smell the whiskey and sweat. His ability to transform on screen from this broken down loser to and a man with luminosity, energy and charisma that we can start rooting for is just another example of why Ruffalo is one of the stronger male leads on screen today. Mark Ruffalo has a varied and impressive list of roles under his belt from the imaginary Incredible Hulk (The Avengers) to his BAFTA, Saturn and Oscar noms for ‘The Kid’s Are All Right’ (2011).

The music is the real star of this film with a catchy pop-tune filled soundtrack penned by Grammy Award winning New Radicals’ front man, Gregg Alexander and sung by Knightley herself. And yes, she really can sing.This role was originally meant for actress/songstress Scarlett Johansson who released an album of Tom Waits covers in 2008. Thankfully the role went to Knightley who brings a down to earth charm and a voice reminiscent of Feist to the role. While none of the songs are as heartbreaking as Once’s ‘If you want me’ or the Oscar award winning ‘Falling Slowly’, all of the songs in ‘Can A Song Save Your Life’ have a feeling of truthfulness to them that rings true to Knightley’s more laid-back songstress character, Greta.

Levine shows off a new layer to his skillset as an actor. While he won’t be winning any Oscars for his portrayal of rising rock-star Dave, he was fluid and natural on screen. Highlights of course were moments were Levine was allowed to belt out some of the film’s shining musical moments, including the song’s finale ‘Falling Stars’ which I predict will be all over the radio in no time.

Produced by Judd Apatow, this Weinstein Co production is sure to inspire a series of copycat films featuring a current stream of successful musicians. Hopefully this generation will produce something more substantial than Mariah Carey’s flop, Glitter (2001).

‘Can A Song Save Your Life’ is a charming exploration of the major changing moments in life and the effect that music and friendship has on those times of adjustment. Can ‘a song’ really ‘save your life?’ Thanks to Carney and his all-star cast music can at certainly make a serious impact. ‘Can A Song Save Your Life’ premiered in Toronto at TIFF and will be released in theatres in 2013. Loved it.

Lauren Schell