Once

I didn't dislike this movie. How's that for a compliment? Glen Hansard is certainly easy on the eye. AND I appreciated that they made a movie where the main characters didn't have to sleep together (a dead giveaway that it is not an American movie). But the songs to me all sounded the same, and earnest like they had something to SAY. And did they ENJOY recording their songs in the studio (in the movie)? Whatever.

I'm gonna be honest and say that I;m giving this movie 4 stars because of the performance of Marketa Irglova. Take this novice actress away and replace her with someone else, and the movie will be worth less than half a star.
I didn't think the music was that great. I only find Falling Away and Marketa's piano piece about her husband passable. All the songs have too much angst to interest me much. Music aside, Irglova pretty much stole the movie with the scenes she was in. Her sincerity and occasional goofiness makes her shine through her dull male co-star.

this movie is fantastic. it truly touches the heart and is particularly appealing to music aficionados. it is a great film to watch with your boyfriend or girlfriend.

Now don't get me wrong, my two-star rating has nothing to do with the movie itself. Once was easily one of the best movies I saw last year, it is definitely one of the finest and most moving musicals I've ever seen, and has some of the finest music you will ever hear. My frustration lies in the U.S. DVD version of the film, specifically its audio.

I received Once as a Christmas present last year shortly after it came out on DVD. I went to watch it again and immediately realized the audio playback was wrong. It was half a step too slow, so all the songs were out of key and the voices sounded somewhat lower than when I first saw the film. I tried other DVD players and got the same result.

So I was disappointed, but I assumed that since the DVD had just been released this had just been an error in DVD authoring. Many DVDs have had to be recalled or reissued because of a glitch or mistake of some kind. So nine months later, the DVD is still circulating well and the movie is even being shown on HBO (and played perfectly in tune to boot), so I finally head back out and buy a fresh new copy of the DVD...and get the same result. The audio is still wrong, still flat, there are other DVD formats, a CD soundtrack and a TV broadcasting of the film offering sound evidence of an audio discrepancy, but nothing has been done about it.

This is why I'm so frustrated. I love Once, and I want to see it in its finest musical form. Too bad I live in the U.S. which just happens to get the short end of the stick in the audio playback department. My advice to any other U.S. viewers, watch the movie on HBO or watch the DVD on one of those Sony players in which you can actually adjust the audio pitch on the disc playback by half steps. Or just hope that the DVD is some day rereleased and something is finally done about this. What a frustrating setback for an excellent film.

if you love music and film then this is a movie that you cannnot miss