Once (2007)

Directed by John Carney. Starring Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová, Geoff Minogue, Bill Hodnett, Hugh Walsh, Gerard Hendrick, Alastair Foley. [R]

Dublin busker Hansard makes the acquaintance of a Czech flower girl (Irglová) with a talent for the piano and, as the saying goes, they make beautiful music together. A thoroughly uplifting charmer, tender and bittersweet, with refreshing authenticity for what could have easily turned into a romantic musical fantasy, right down to the dingy street locations and the fumbling intimacy between the leads (musicians that prove to have more-than-satisfactory acting chops). Wall-to-wall music written by Hansard and/or Irglová, much of it quite good, including the Oscar-winning “Falling Slowly.” Director Carney was one of the original members of the rock band that Hansard fronts (The Frames). Later turned into a Broadway musical.

86/100