Review: ‘Once’

Zac:

One of the top films of the year is this little seen masterpiece. Having seen it 3 times now does not take away from the excellence of this film and I urge to rush out and see this now.

An Irish “musical,” Guy meets Girl and they bond over the creation of music. Guy and Girl are both romantically estranged and are eventually happy to find some companion ship on there musical adventure.
The film is as simple as it sounds but the characters are so believable and the music so good that the simplicity works to its favor as you are able to just sit back and enjoy every bit of it. The film is at least fifty percent music and that is not a bad thing, again, since the material is so good. The characters do not sing their dialogue but the lyrics do reflect the emotions in the air many times and it all works so well do to the fantastic chemistry of the two leads played by Glen Hansard and Markà ©ta Irglovà ¡.
Both leads are professional musicians in real life, Hansard is the leader of The Frames and Irglovà ¡ had done a duo CD with Hansard called The Swell Season. The director John Carney was in The Frames and recruited Hansard for some of his music and some new original work and eventually cast him in the lead. Irglovà ¡ was suggested by Hansard for the part and the rest is history. The fact that the two have played together and know each other really lends itself to the movie as it makes their compatibility all the more believable and I don’t know how well the film would have worked with any other people.
The film also works as a film as it is very concise and to the point and never meanders coming in at a hair under ninety minutes. The emotional connection you invest into these characters is also amazing and you are so sad or excited for them as they move along their journey. I will not spoil the film as it is a joy to watch but I find it hard to believe anyone can really dislike this film. If they don’t it will be because it’s either low budget or they can’t get past the accents, and that is just a damn shame because they couldn’t that this film is about so much more than what these people are saying to one another.
Almost a guaranteed lock to be in my top 5 films of the year, I implore you to go out and rent this movie ASAP as you will not be disappointed. This is one film that needs to be shared and discovered by as many people possible.

[rating: 5/5]