Libramedi Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

bombersflyup Once is an amateurish little music/romance film, but touching nevertheless.I like Glen Hansard's type of sound, like that of the one and only "David Gray." It really carries the film, as many of the other aspects aren't explored and are underwritten. It's a very a clever way of marketing yourself in today's world. He has also had some acting experience in the 1991 film "The Commitments," which I also liked. I don't really understand Marketa's character's choice at the end, as she looks out the window. Overall it is a little light on substance, but I liked it.

piffkin I am unable to join - or indeed to understand - what seems to be the universal chorus of adulation for this film. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing the matter with the acting, or the cinematography - the problem is, the plot. There isn't one. It is about a busker who decides he wants to make a demo CD, he gets together a scratch band and they record it. That's it, really. Along the way he befriends a married Czech woman who is waiting for her husband to join her in Dublin, and who plays keyboards in his band. At the end, the busker goes off to London to rejoin his former girlfriend. That's it. End of. The only moment of drama in the whole film comes right at the beginning when a thief tries to take the busker's takings and there is a chase down the street. Aside from that, nothing really happens. Was the demo CD helpful in promoting a musical career for the busker? We never find out. Having made the whole film revolve around the busker's efforts to record this demo, once it was made the director then seems to have lost interest in what happened to it. I don't know if maybe the only point of the film was supposed to be to showcase the music? Well, you either liked that or you didn't. Personally I didn't care for it.

kiykiygow Speaking as a person who isn't particularly fond of musicals or romances, I really like this movie. The low budget, basic camera movement, and all around vibe, will some will find annoying, does give off a certain "no BS" vibe, as does the direct dialogue and romance that feels honest because, basically, it was. The music is incredible, and actually properly manages to further the emotional aspects of the characters while making you bawl your eyes out(especially Falling Slowly). To summarize, the music feels real, the romance feels real, and, while some may not enjoy it for it's cheapness, it's definitely worth watching either way.

Yulia Kislova Yesterday I watched a marvelous Irish film 'Once'. This movie won Oscar in 2007 for the best soundtrack. It's really merited price. I liked pleasant and melodic songs of this motion picture very much. But why am I talking about music firstly?Actually, 'Once' is a musical. But this is not that typical one with lots of strange dances and sudden music compositions. All the tracks are the organic part of the story. And this story is about two musicians – not the professional ones, but very talented and sensitive – who meet each other at the right term of their lives. You might think it's an average love story with the corny happy-end and all, but it isn't, as a matter of fact. The characters have their own life paths with some hardships and troubles. They impact on each other's fates positive way and split up after all. It's kind of sad, but very natural anyway. This movie is cozy, warm and realistic. It's about the everyday life with little surprises and wonders, the good people that maybe haven't enough powers and confidence sometimes, and about events that happen just once.