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 enlarge | Director: John Carney
Actors: Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglova, Senan Haugh, Leslie Murphy (ii), Danuse Ktrestova
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.98
Buy Used: $4.99
You Save: $14.99 (75%)
New (55) from $9.65
Avg. Customer Rating:  237 reviews
Format: Color, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), Czech (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 86
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: FOXD2247759D
UPC: 024543477594
EAN: 0024543477594
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Release Date: December 18, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 "When Your Minds Made Up" ~ Emotional Scars, Self-Exploration And The Healing Power Of The Creative Process December 25, 2007
23 out of 26 found this review helpful
The '07 release 'Once' certainly won't blow you away with state-of-the-art production values. In fact at times it will make you feel as though you're watching someones home movies. However once you move beyond all the usual Hollywood expectations of what a good film should be you'll find yourself deeply involved in this simple and sensitive story and personal invested in the charming relationship evolving between Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova.
Follow along as their chance meeting on the streets of Dublin turns into an opportunity for the two to explore their past failures and heartbreaks through the medium of musical composition. As their portfolio of songs grow the beginning sparks hinting at the possibility of something more between the two come into play. Will the musical muse give way to its kindred spirit Cupid, or is the music all they really share?
Terrific film from beginning to end with an excellent soundtrack comprised of the songs created by the two main characters in the storyline. This is what independent filmmaking is all about!
 Cloying and Manipulative December 27, 2007
21 out of 95 found this review helpful
At Gitmo, one of the things the interrogators do to `break' prisoners is to subject them to prolonged exposure to songs from TV's Sesame Street. It turns out that even when it's designed to be benign or even therapeutic, being forced to listen to certain music truly is torture. Also at Gitmo, if a `detainee' tries to end his suffering by means of starvation, the U.S. military will force feed him so as to prevent this.
'Once' is a force-feeding of folk music.
The musical performances are characterized by an affected earnestness and a self-styled soulfulness. They are self-conscious without being self-aware: in other words, a pre-ironic mindset. Watching them made me uncomfortable in the way that one is uncomfortable when a naïve, sensitive, and bad poet insists upon reading you his work and asking for feedback.
This film is photographed with a blurry, hand held camera, and to say that the script is minimalist is an understatement. It is possible to momentarily forget that this film is fiction, that someone scripted this. In my opinion, this is a deliberate cheat, a gimmick to conceal the thinness, corniness, and improbability of the plot.
This is `The Blair Witch Project,' but with music.
There is a sense of arrested development with Glen Hansard's character, a self-pitying 36-year-old still living at his father's house. It's creepy to know that when this movie was made, Marketa Irglova was just 18. The pair are reported to `dating' nowadays, and it is reasonable to suspect that the relationship was probably not `platonic' when they were composing and performing together prior to filming.
In short, this film feels like the fantasy of a college sophomore, neglecting his classes in hopes that music will be his ticket out. If you have ever wondered what it would be like to have a street musician move in with you, I strongly recommend this movie. It makes 85 minutes seem like a month.
Dog of a movie in need of a leash. December 23, 2007
20 out of 90 found this review helpful
I don't get it. How on earth could anyone give this stale slice of mediocrity a favorable review?
The acting was so banal it made the second-rate, cheese-ball story line seem Shakespearean. And let me go on record and say the screenplay came across as having been cobbled from every sappy `boy meets girl' endeavor to flop on the wide screen.
The music was touted as being so powerful its contribution to the movie may well make it the "best musical film of our generation". Puleeze!! I noticed a poster of Leonard Cohen's 1973 'Live Songs' on one of the walls in the boy's bedroom . Do yourself a favor and buy the Leonard Cohen album. It's a thing of beauty and will sustain your soul for the rest of your life. Avoid this trite affair at all costs. No should have to suffer thru Once ... not even once.
 It Might Be an Interesting Bookend with "The Commitments" August 15, 2007
15 out of 65 found this review helpful
"Once" was the surprise hit of Sundance 2006, one of the world's leading independent film festivals. It can be considered an interesting bookend with "The Commitments," a 1970's film about Dublin's poor, musical youth. (Apparently, we're to read "Once" as being set a few years ago, when most of Dublin was still poor, particularly its young. We can also, presumably, believe each film gives a fairly accurate picture of its times.) Furthermore, as is well-known, Glen Hansard, with the well-known Irish band "The Frames," who was one of the lesser-noticed musicians in "The Commitments," stars in this film.
Hansard plays "the guy," day job helping his father repair vacuum cleaners; otherwise to be found on the streets of Dublin, playing for pennies, busking, as they call it; the same place he was found in "The Commitments." One evening he meets "the girl," Marketa Irglova, a recent Czech immigrant; also a talented musician. They get together musically, much to the guy's benefit, and do some yearning after each other; but the girl has commitments.
Much has been made of the fact that this movie was made in less than 17 days, for less than $150,000; and, as it was filmed with a handheld camera, it could be made on the streets of Dublin without a permit. Well, that's as may be, but the picture occasionally goes out of focus, and the sound is so fuzzy it's hard to catch the dialogue, let alone the music's lyrics.
Furthermore, the less than 17 days is no excuse for not bothering to name the characters, nor for an embarrassingly stock footage/thinking filler beach frisby scene. There's hardly a two-shot in the film, nor any action, either. And finally, we don't always need every character's backstory; but it seems very unlikely, even in these days of the European Union, that Irish immigration would allow a single mother, with her child, and her mother, and without a real job, admission. And it seems even more unlikely that three people, anywhere, anytime, could be housed, clothed and fed on the proceeds of selling roses, or magazines, on the street.
Seems to me that the movie is just lazily made. However, let me give you an advisory here: I'm no longer as young as once I was, and even if I could have gotten the music in that fuzzy soundtrack, not so sure I would "get" it. People who love the music may well love the movie, despite its flaws.
Once is never enough when it comes to viewing this masterpiece! October 17, 2007
15 out of 18 found this review helpful
During this time of the year, most movie studios release those surefire moneymakers known as "the summer blockbuster." With movies like "Pirates of the Caribbean 3," "Spider-Man 3," "Shrek the Third," "Transformers," "Fantastic Four 2," "Ocean's Thirteen," and "Live Free or Die Hard," it's hard to not be enticed into the studio's lure. But while these seasons come and go, and their neverending advertisements riddle our media, it's easy for most cinematic gems - ones more original and genuine - to fall out of our sights and sadly not be noticed until DVD release, if at all. One such gem is Fox Searchlight's release "Once," starring Glen Hansard (only noticed as the red-headed guitarist Outspan Foster from Alan Parker's 1991 hit, The Commitments (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)) and the beautiful, wistful Czech musician Marketa Irglova (whose voice somewhat resembles Tori Amos ... only Irglova's music is good).
Hansard is also known as guitarist and leading man of the music group The Frames (with which director John Carney was bassist), and while he and Irglova have previously teamed up to record "The Swell Season" album as well as open for Damien Rice (whom Hansard's music sometimes resembles) on his first tour, their meeting in "Once" is so earnest and real that you'd think it was the first time these people had met. I heard most of the movie was shot with a long range lens, thus shooting the actors from afar and giving the movie more of a documentary feel than a fictional film, which works immensely. "Once" has such a basic boy-meets-girl storyline but with much more meaning. And it's that simplicity that helps make the overall message of this film so beautiful. The main characters don't even trivialize with stating names; all that matters is the connection these two have - much like that of Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy in Before Sunrise. However, unlike "Sunrise," there is no pretension with these characters, who do more than have romantic feelings toward each other and avoid their rehashings of their pasts. Despite the fact that they're virtually strangers, Hansard and Irglova have faith in each other; something that's sorely lacking in today's society. The two have a wonderful chemistry and I heard that they are/were dating in real life.
Set in Dublin, Ireland, "Once" is the tale of a guy (Hansard) who's a vacuum repairman at his father's shop by day and a guitarist/busker by afternoons and evenings, trying his best to support his widowed father and get over a break-up with his girlfriend. One night, while performing one of his outstanding, passionate songs ("Say It To Me Now"), he's tipped by and meets a Czech girl (Irglova), who's amazed by his song and becomes somewhat of a fan. The next day, when bringing the guy her vacuum to repair, we learn that the girl is somewhat of a musician herself - she was trained by her father to be a damn good pianist. Shortly after, the two stop by a music shop where the girl plays piano for him and he soon is taking out one of his original songs for them to both sing. What follows is a simplistic-yet-magical scene set to a beautifully haunting song, "Falling Slowly," where these characters bond. Without mincing words, this song is absolutely beautiful and brilliant! And it's a good precursor of what to expect from this film.
With many critics describing this movie as a musical, or as director Carney described it: a "video album," it's easy to agree because the film's music is featured so prominently and is played to help form and mold the characters. At times, "Once" feels a bit like an epic music video, but with much more feeling and story. Each time a song comes on, you feel more drawn to these characters, their lives and the connection they have. If you don't like the music, then there's something seriously wrong with your taste and you should probably start reevaluating what you consider to be good, real music.
I won't disclose any more of the film or the several scenes I loved as I'm afraid that may take away from the visceral, feelgood emotions they invoke. All I will say is that "Once" is one of the best, innovative films I've seen in a long time. It's emotionally honest, the music is better than anything you'll hear on mainstream contemporary radio, and it'll leave you feeling both inspired and rejuvenated. This is not merely a film to see; it's a film to experience! There're so many emotions and memories that surface after viewing this film and that's the sign of a great movie! I have to admit that while I'll be among the masses going to see "Live Free of Die Hard," the chance of me buying that movie on DVD is a lot more slim compared to my excitement in buying "Once" on DVD for multiple viewings! Between Hansard's humility and Irglova's charm, it's easy to fall in love with "Once" more than its title invokes.
Sadly, because it's an independent film, you may have problems locating a theater where it's playing - which is a shame because, really, how many showings do we need of "Pirates of the Caribbean 3" or "Ocean's Thirteen"? But if you do notice "Once" on Netflix or at your local movie rental store, make it a top priority to see this film! Drop everything and just see it. Afterward, I'll even bet that you'll then soon be visiting a music store and buying the outstanding soundtrack or the duo's great preceding album The Swell Season.
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