Once (2007)

Overall rating from 1 to 100: 85

O Masterpiece (100)
X Excellent (75-99)
O Rental (60-74)
O OK (50-59)
O Mediocrity (30-49)
O Avoid (1-29)

Review by Jason Pyles / November 15, 2007

It has been said that one of the greatest gifts you can give someone is the recommendation of an excellent film. Well, Barrett Hilton and Craig Tovey, thank you for the gift: “Once” is wonderful. And while I’m shamelessly namedropping, I’d like to call out Bill Barnes, Dave Eaton, and Cory Mon, specifically, and offer them this same gift. Music lovers will appreciate it; but musicians will revel in it.

And oddly, nothing much really happens in “Once.” Basically, two musicians meet and play music together. The “guy” (Glen Hansard), so called in the credits because we never learn his name, works in his dad’s vacuum repair store (a veritable “sweeper” shop) by day, and is a streetlife serenader by night. The “guy” needs no orchestration (for much of the film), probably because the melody comes easy: incontrovertible Billy Joel logic.

The “girl” (Marketa Irglova) is a bashful singer and pianist, but they hit it off, begin playing music together and even record a CD. Um, let’s see ... what else ... yeah, that’s about it. But it’s quite entertaining, somehow. In fact, the opening sequence that precedes the film’s title could easily be a successful, stand-alone short film.

Is “Once” a musical? Yes, but it doesn’t feel anything like “Singin’ In the Rain” (1952) or “The Sound of Music” (1965). Is it a music video? It could possibly be considered a collection of music videos strung together and interwoven with waves of dialogue (but most people simply call that a musical).

Is “Once” a documentary? No, not in a strict sense, but the film has a traditional documentary feel to it, minus intermittent talking heads. The dialogue seems unscripted but is equally as entertaining as walking around listening to your friends’ unremarkable banter. The only malady that afflicts the dialogue’s wellness is the ruthlessly recurring phrase, “I have to go now,” which is used plenty.

But the music makes this movie. I’d attempt to describe its flavor, but I’m not as eclectic as I should be, so it might be hard for me to make accurate comparisons. (Anyone can feel free to do so by adding comments.) But I’ll put it this way: If I only buy one soundtrack each year, which is probably true, then “Once” would be that soundtrack. When I first heard the song “Falling Slowly,” which is initially performed in a music store, it gave me chills and evoked tears.

Being a singer/songwriter myself, the depiction “Once” gives of such an existence (which is one that Dave Eaton describes as always “swooning and brooding”) is pitch-perfect. For example, we glimpse the wrestle of songwriting sessions, the awkward discord of working with a recording engineer, and that coy game of pseudo-bashfulness and false modesty that every songwriter plays when asked to perform a song. That’s just what it’s like to be a musician, I guess. And “Once” fully understands that. I have to go now.

Directed by John Carney
Glen Hansard / Marketa Irglova / Bill Hodnett
85 min. Drama / Musical
MPPA: R (for language)

Copyright 2007. 212