Once (movie review)
Sarah and I watched Once last night. She was a little skeptical, since it's technically a musical, but both of us loved it. It's a story set in Dublin about an Irish street musician who develops a friendship with a Czech woman. They've both got checkered romantic pasts, and the real tension of the movie is their vulnerabilities being revealed and wondering where this relationship is going. It's an adult film in the sense that it's about two people with pasts and complicated lives working out what it means in the present. Great music (though the songs do start to sound the same toward the end) and a really compelling story--the chemistry between the two leads is strong. The main actor is the lead singer from the Frames, an Irish band which looks like a big deal, but which I in my ignorance hadn't heard of. It's a musical that isn't a musical--no spontaneous bursting into song. Highly recommended.
5/5