Once

Guy meets Girl, right? That seems to be their names in the sweet little Irish musical about a guy who meets a girl...

Guy is played by Glen Hansard, who, in real life is the frontman for a band called "The Frames." (No, I haven't heard of them, either.) Guy is a street musician in his own time and works for his father in a vacuum cleaner repair shop as his "day job." By the way, the father is sober, supportive, loving, reasonable and is NOT a clichéd bad guy!

Of course most people walk right past Guy with his guitar but the Girl (Marketa Irglova) stops and strikes up a conversation. Within the week, the two of them are walking down the street together dragging her broken Hoover by the hose (he has agreed to repair it for her) and becoming acquainted. She is a recent immigrant from the Czech Republic who is allowed to play piano in a nearby shop (she can't afford one of her own) and who happily collaborates with him.

This is a musical with real musicians but without the saccharine plotting that usually gums up our systems. Of course he needs to record a demo but has no backup musicians... Of course they can only afford limited time in the recording studio... Of course the technician is blasé about their music until something catches his ear...

Trust me when I tell you it is NOT predictable but is still heartwarming and enjoyable. The leads are ordinary-looking people who are NOT pretty. Their faces grow on you and you find yourself smiling along with them when they are pleased about something. This movie has something to say about man's humanity to man... So THERE!

You'll like it best on DVD because of the captions. I keep telling myself that Ireland is an English-speaking country, but...