# "Once" (Irish film) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 4, 2007, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-irish-film/417992 "2007-09-04T13:19:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2007, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-irish-film/417992/1 "2007-09-04T13:19:12Z")
(Can’t do a search, so if there’s a thread already, feel free to point me at it.) Saw this charming movie over the weekend, and loved it. Not my most usual type of music, but loved that as well (have ordered the soundtrack already). Liked the pace, was good with the relative lack of story, thought the ending was appropriate – I was left with a few questions, but ain’t that the human condition? Has anyone else seen it? What did you think? ---
**Author:** ![shelbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@shelbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shelbo)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2007, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-irish-film/417992/2 "2007-09-04T15:44:08Z")
Saw it - really liked it. You should read the information on the film’s website - the way it was made was interesting (long story short - the writer/producer/director hired a musician friend to write the music, couldn’t find a better actor to play the part, so the musician friend ended up in the lead role). It’s been out for a while, but only in very limited limited release. > **[oncethemovie.com](http://www.oncethemovie.com/)** > > oncethemovie.com (download the pdf press pack - the flash site is so gimmicky that it is almost impossible to read!) ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2007, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-irish-film/417992/3 "2007-09-04T16:07:13Z")
The two leads share a real-life romance as well, though she’s only 19 and he’s about 37 now. Since I saw the film I bought the soundtrack and two of his albums–I _love_ his music. I don’t think the film had a relative lack of story. It’s not the sort of fast-paced-action-filled movie we’ve all become accustomed to, but there’s a definite plot with rising action and a denouement and everything. **Once** is easily one of the best movies I’ve seen in a long time… ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2007, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-irish-film/417992/4 "2007-09-04T17:04:36Z")
[QUOTE=shelbo] You should read the information on the film’s website - the way it was made was interesting (long story short - the writer/producer/director hired a musician friend to write the music, couldn’t find a better actor to play the part, so the musician friend ended up in the lead role). [/QUOTE] And the “musician friend” is Glen Hansard, who was also the guitar player in the movie, “The Commitments”. We saw this movie a few months ago and absolutely loved it. The music just soars and the story is bittersweet and heartwarming. We, too, bought the soundtrack, and although the exquisite “Falling Slowly” and “If You Want Me” are 2 of the best songs on the CD, my favorite has to be “Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy.” 😃 Wonderful movie – I highly recommend it. Read reviews [here](http://movies.aol.com/movie/once/28796/reviews). ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2007, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-irish-film/417992/5 "2007-09-04T17:09:29Z")
I saw it at the San Francisco International Film Festival last spring and it’s remained in my Top 10 for the year ever since. It’s been out for almost 4 months now and has been a huge success (relatively speaking, from an Indie POV), so it’s definitely claimed The Little Film That Could banner for the summer. It’s not music I’d ordinarily listen to, but it worked perfectly for the film; haven’t decided on whether to buy the CD (I suspect I probably wouldn’t listen to it often, but can’t be sure) or not. Very simply, understated, and thoroughly charming. Glad you liked it, twick. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2007, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-irish-film/417992/6 "2007-09-04T17:11:48Z")
Well, you know I’ll go see anything that can be described as a musical! I esp. like how they wove the music through the story – like when she’s asking him questions on the bus, or the part when she’s coming back from buying batteries. ETA: The friend I went with was pretty “enh” walking out of the theater, but emailed me later to say that he liked it much more once he’d thought about it a little. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2007, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-irish-film/417992/7 "2007-09-04T17:49:16Z")
I haven’t seen this and the main reason I haven’t is Glen Hansard. I just don’t like him lol. I like his music, he can probably act but I just really dislike the person. People went around Dublin affixing a “P” or “N” to the movie posters rendering them “Ponce” and “Nonce” respectively. I might get it out on dvd at some stage though. ---
**Author:** ![Delly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Delly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Delly)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2007, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-irish-film/417992/8 "2007-09-04T18:25:04Z")
Thats probably got a lot to do with people being jealous of him. Any of you who like the music may also want to check out [The Frames](http://www.theframes.ie/) (his band). ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2007, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-irish-film/417992/9 "2007-09-04T18:26:04Z")
[QUOTE=An Gadaí] [links to definitions added] People went around Dublin affixing a “P” or “N” to the movie posters rendering them “[Ponce](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Ponce)” and “[Nonce](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Nonce)” respectively. [/QUOTE] \ Lovely. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2007, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-irish-film/417992/10 "2007-09-04T23:24:54Z")
[QUOTE=Delly] Thats probably got a lot to do with people being jealous of him. Any of you who like the music may also want to check out [The Frames](http://www.theframes.ie/) (his band). [/QUOTE] Jealously is possibly a factor for some people but as I said I like his music, I just dislike him. Check out the [Swell Season](http://www.myspace.com/theswellseason), his latest side project. ---
**Author:** ![tiltypig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dbc845/32.png) [@tiltypig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiltypig)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2007, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-irish-film/417992/11 "2007-09-05T00:21:57Z")
Saw it, didn’t really like it. I seem to be just about the only person on earth who doesn’t. Glen Hansard is a friend of a friend and now I don’t know if I should tell my friend I saw the movie, due to my underwhelmedness. I found it pretty tedious, the music and lyrics generic, the story kind of limp. I was charmed at first with the vacuum cleaner scene, and the glimpses into the girl’s life, but stuff like that montage of memories of the old girlfriend made me yawn. And ultimately it seemed very self-centered. I kept wondering why musicians, artists, and writers always think the details of their craft are immensely interesting to everyone, writers writing books about writing and musicians making incredibly long and boring sequences about recording in the studio for fifteen million hours. Everyone’s job has some kind of semi-interesting narrative to it, but you don’t see insurance salesmen making movies with long scenes about calculating premiums. It frustrates me sometimes; I may like the end product, but I don’t find the process inherently interesting because of that. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2007, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-irish-film/417992/12 "2007-09-05T00:52:26Z")
“Fuck you, batteries!”\* \*best line of dialogue in any film in recent years ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-irish-film/417992/13 "2007-10-22T22:30:07Z")
> **[TLS - Times Literary Supplement](https://www.the-tls.co.uk)** > > Times Literary Supplement Review of this from the Uk’s Sunday Times. Unusual in that they rarely give 5 star reviews. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-irish-film/417992/14 "2007-10-22T23:28:25Z")
I liked this movie too, even though I never listen to that kind of music. I even saw it twice. Everything worked for me, even the “unsatisfying” ending. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova are on tour now as The Swell Season. They’re playing TWO nights at the Vic Theater in Chicago. **Once** was still playing in a theater here up until a couple of weeks ago, and I’ll bet they’ll bring it back before or right after the show. I’m not sure yet if I’ll go. I’m really more interested in her than him, but I think it’ll be a good show and I might go. [Their MySpace page](http://www.myspace.com/theswellseason) has more concert dates.