Once

I can't help but feel that the trailer for this movie misrepresented it somehow. From watching the trailer, one could be led to believe that the story is a romance between two unlikely strangers punctuated by their love of music when in fact it is more a story of music punctuated by a tantalizing romance. Very few of the scenes from the trailer occurred in the expected contexts for me. I've heard it reviewed as "a deconstructed musical" which, while I'm not exactly sure I understand the term, sounds about right. There was none of the "normal" building of relationships, characters, and results. The music bursts out from the beginning nearly fully realized while the romantic plot line progresses in completely non-traditional stages. (Usually, a fella finds out if a girl is married or not before asking her to stay the night.) The main characters - credited as "Guy" and "Girl" - are played out as sweet and slightly lost individuals in a world full of things they would like to have but without a real plan to reach their goals.
Glen Hansard, most recognizable as Outspan Foster from The Commitments, is Guy, a busker on the streets of Dublin who fixes vacuum cleaners in his father's shop on the side. He sings the cover tunes that tourists and passer-bys want to hear during the day and his own songs - many inspired by an ex-girlfriend - at night. It is at night that he is approached by the lovely and precocious Girl, played to the tee by Marketa Irglova (I have no idea how to insert the necessary accents in Blogger), a Czech immigrant with an ear for a good melody. In the span of a short week (maybe ten days), they become an integral part of each others' lives despite some social missteps.
At only 85 minutes, this is a musical about the music without the big production numbers, without the typical "grand romance" and with a genuine, real-world feel to the setting and characters. The songs burst forth in situations that make logical sense and, although they run into some implausibly good luck in their quest to record a demo, you watch and buy into it with the satisfaction of witnessing good things happening to good people. These are people who face the realities of family and responsibility daily with humour and practicality. Best of all, being actual musicians (all of Guy and Girl's "original" songs are written and performed by Hansard and Irglova), they sound great.