Once

I have to say I loved this film. I went to see it with a Japanese friend, and she loved it too.

So the plot wasn't full of 'save the world' ambitions and the good guy wasn't a millionaire playboy, but who cares? It was a gorgeous straightforward film about two people meeting at a certain time in their lives.

I read a quote recently about someone who'd seen the movie and came out wanting to hug everyone they met - and I totally agree. I cycled home humming the tunes and feeling like I haven't felt from a film since seeing 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'. I know, I know - totally different films - but the zen-like feeling after seeing them both...

From a Dublin dweller, it was fun to watch the geography, as the film makers played with the locations in that certain venues were on the same street - yet it looked like the actors had to walk through town to get to them. It definitely hindered the 'who do I know in the public street' shots moments! But was interesting, as helped make Dublin be a different city to what the residents would be used to.

My recommendation is to just go and see it if you're on for seeing something uncomplicated, feel-good without being too mushy, comedic moments that everyone can relate to and some singer-songwriter music thrown in.

This is a wonderful, fun and touching movie. At a screening at Sundance 2007 the director described it as a musical, and it really is. The primary actors are musicians and their songs tie the movie together and tie you to them. Although the primary cast aren't actors as a first profession, they are very natural together and the film flows very well because of it. Everyone involved in this film has a great passion for music, and it is very infectious. It is one of the few films I have seen in 7 years at Sundance that received a standing ovation.

From the Sundance film guide: "A Dublin busker, who ekes out a living playing guitar and repairing vacuum cleaners for his dad's shop, meets a young Czech immigrant who sells roses on the same street. She likes his song, and what's more…she has a broken vacuum cleaner! They soon find themselves playing music together in a nearby music store (since she can't afford a piano, the owner lets her play his floor models). Over the course of a week, they form a musical rapport and, newly inspired, decide to record an album.

Once may loosely be classified as a musical, but it has a refreshing vérité inflection. Conceived by director John Carney as a "video album," it sports a scrappy, unembellished naturalism. Carney took a risk in choosing professional musicians over professional actors, but Glen Hansard (of the well-known Irish band the Frames) and Marketa Irglova (a Czech singer/songwriter) are not only remarkably charming together but they're equally adept with the more melancholy shades (Hansard's lonely soul, stuck on an old flame; Irglova struggling to support a mother and daughter). Burdened and brokenhearted, their musical bond is the heart of the film and of their love.

Great music aside, what makes this film special is how little effort it seems to exert. If it's possible to be blindsided by simplicity--a light touch, Once does it." — John Nein

After hearing about this movie while at Sundance, I was sad I wouldn't get a chance to see it.

Luckily it's gotten distribution!!! I just saw an advance screening in LA, and it's a wonderful movie with strong performances by both the main characters who are terrific musicians.

If you've ever wondered if a movie could capture the true essence of performance, the awe of listening to something amazing and feeling it move you, it's here! This isn't a hackneyed musical with clichés, but a carefully captured story that feels more true than any other romance I've seen unfold.

Go see it!

Watching "Once" is like sitting in on a jam session. It's mellow and relaxed. It doesn't amount to much, but it's pleasant enough.

The director has said that he set out to make a movie so simple that the story could be summarized on the back of a postage stamp, and he's succeeded. An Irish busker meets a Czech émigré, and both flit around the edges of falling for each other while recording a demo album of the busker's music. Both are struggling with the loves in their lives, he with a girlfriend in London, she with her estranged husband and father to her little girl. The resolution of their stories, what resolution there is, felt right and realistic. This isn't a fairy tale, but neither is it Shakespearean tragedy. Life simply goes on.

The film's biggest asset is its music, and indeed most of the songs in the film we see performed in their entirety. The movie isn't exactly a musical in the strictest sense of the word, since characters don't spontaneously burst into choreographed musical numbers, but like the best musicals, the songs in "Once" illuminate the characters and play an integral role in the storytelling.

A low-key little gem of a movie.

Grade: A

Glen Hansard plays an unnamed street performer in Dublin. Markéta Irglová plays an unnamed Czech immigrant flower girl who takes an interest in him on a lonely night. He's getting over a girl. She's fascinated with him and soon they're making beautiful music together.

There is something magical about discovering two unknowns (Hansard is known in his country) in a sweet under-written romance. It never pushes hard. Markéta is utterly sweet. The romance is hesitant. The music is beautiful. In a world of big bombastic high budget Broadway style musicals, this indie musical has more heart than most of them could hope for.