"Once"

I have just seen (for the second time) the most-perfect movie with music ... I cannot call it a "musical" because it is light years away from "Hairspray" or "Dreamgirls." "Once" is the latest Sundance darling that (for once) lives up to the hype that annual designation brings --oftentimes regardless of quality. This indie Irish gem of a movie stars two talented singer-songwriters that I had never heard of: Glen Hansard (of the Irish group "The Frames") and his newest collaborator, Czech sensation Marketa Irglova. For non-actors (as most of the cast apparently are), they are naturals in front of a camera.

The story of their friendship -- an always awkward journey of getting to know someone of the opposite sex, stepping through that sexual minefield along the way -- is refreshingly real (they don't even 'meet cute.') This is due in large part to Ms. Irglova's directness: like a true foreigner (in my experience), she immediatley asks the most personal questions to a street singer who, admittedly, was baring his soul in his songs.

The camerawork and street scenes of working-class Dublin add to the movie's verisimilitude (a Spelling Bee word I've always wanted to use). But the movie stands or falls on the music itself -- and fans of the music will not be short-changed. [Count me in that camp: I cannot predict what non-fans will think of the movie overall -- the two are inextricably linked.]

For critics who charge that there is too much music, not enough story or dialogue, I say: The music IS the dialogue! Character is revealed through music in a way that a conventional musical only scratches the surface (of). [As I wrote that, I thought of a number of classic Broadway exceptions to that statement, most involving Stehpen Sondheim, but who would accuse him of being 'conventional'?]

I do appreciate the traditional movie musical ("Chicago" and "Moulin Rouge" being recent notable achievements in the genre). But "Once" is a different animal entirely: not a movie with music as an over-produced diversion but a movie with music as integral as any language.