"Once" is a simple, yet intimate look at a moment in the lives of a guy and a girl. The former is an Irish street performer by night singing songs he wrote following a painful break-up, while working alongside his father in a Hoover repair shop by day. The later is a bold young Czechoslovakian girl who has moved to Dublin with her mother and 2 year old daughter, where she takes any odd jobs available in order to support her small family.

When these two people meet, the music they create together is passionate, moving and unforgettable.

Though the dialogue is, at times, difficult to follow due to the cast’s thick accents, the limited oral communication between characters is not implicit to the enjoyment of this film.

It has its intimate moments, awkward moments, touching emotional scenes and even a few that will make you laugh out loud. Having never acted before, the two leads, Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová (who are actually musicians, and who wrote and performed most of the music in the film) manage to not only hold their own, but actually shine in most of the feature.

Filmed in 17 days on a budget of about $100,000, the film is very raw, mostly hand-held, and we feel as though we are spying on these two as they share the passion they have for making music. This style helps make the film feel more docu-drama than melo-drama.

However, what remains most exceptional and impressionable about this movie is without a doubt the music! You are guaranteed to walk away from this film humming the soundtrack over and over to yourself for hours after it has ended.