Fresh
So this is how you make a low-budget musical these days!
Bob Mondello, NPR.org
Once
How often do you find the right person?
2007 · 1h 25m · R
Drama, Music, Romance
Directed by
John Carney
Overview
A vacuum repairman moonlights as a street musician and hopes for his big break. One day a Czech immigrant, who earns a living selling flowers, approaches him with the news that she is also an aspiring singer-songwriter. The pair decide to collaborate, and the songs that they compose reflect the story of their blossoming love.
Director and cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
97%
Tomatometer
Fresh
In an era when Hollywood has largely lost the ability to distinguish between romance and sex, Once is the rare film that recognizes that love is no less love for being held in check, it is merely a different kind of love.
Christopher Orr, The New Republic
Fresh
Once doesn't plop its emotions on its characters' sleeves, and it trusts us enough to leave some of the best stuff unstated. In other words, it trusts us to know that half the music lies between the notes.
Mark Bourne, Film.com
Fresh
Forget everything you think you know about the movie musical, one of the more predictable genres. With Once, writer-director John Carney deconstructs it and reinvents it as something wholly new, inspired and alive.
Christy Lemire, Associated Press
Fresh
This lovely tale of a love affair between a Dublin street musician and a flower girl will leave you wistful for more. It's a movie to fall in love with and a movie to fall in love during. It is the most naturalistic musical ever.
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel
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