Once: Movie Review

"Once" is one of the better films you might see, because it has the juice.

The raw, electric energy of music being made at a personal level creates the spirit of this film. The performances are spine tingling at times.

They spent less making this film than most films spend on coffee service for the film crews, and it shows in a good way. This film is deeply honest, and the best place they saved money is on the actors. They used a couple real musicians, and the word "real" here can be read in all it's many meanings. You'll enjoy them all the way through. Actors, they are not, and you won't wish they were.

The apparent love story between the two musicians is supposed to be the point of the film, and I guess it does glue things together pretty well, but I'm not real keen on love stories today, so I'll point out that this was really more of a friendship based on making music - and that's what kept the tension so sweet. I hope you won't miss this film because you dodge sappy stuff. Anything but.

It's my policy to never blog about a film that someone would feel was a waste of their time. This film is top rated for me because watching excellent music being made and performed by people who are great musicians and fully invested in the piece at hand is a core pleasure for me. If great music affects you the same way, this is a film you will enjoy.