Once

Once has been getting great reviews and is being held over for a gazillion weeks wherever it plays. I missed it when it came to Keene and had been contemplating a visit to Amherst where it's held over for 20 or so weeks. Now I've seen it and I can say without reservation...huh?

This is a slice of life meditation on the relationship of two people, "guy" and "girl," street musician and pianist immigrant, who meet and and negotiate a relationship as they write songs together. It is a sweet film, but unsuccessful for me on so many levels.

The characters are largely unappealing. Glen Hansard makes guy largely pathetic, a little stalkerish, amd rather unattractive. Markéta Irglová is more successful with girl, though she's shortchanged on the songs.

I've heard a number of people say that Once is how a film musical should be done. I was definitely in the minority here, but I found the music to be bland and uninteresting. Visually, the handheld effect was headache inducing.

Once screams to be taken seriously as art, as an art house film, and as a reinvention of the film musical. It fails on all accounts.