Once does it every time

New in theaters: 27 Dresses, Cloverfield, Mad Money
New on DVD: Family Guy: Blue Harvest, Good Luck Chuck(http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000Y7U93C/imdb-button/), Mr. Woodcock

I was in Austin last weekend and spent way too much money at Waterloo Records, one of the best independent records stores in the country. One of the CDs I picked up was the soundtrack to Once, a cinema-verite film set in Dublin starring Glen Hansard, frontman of Irish band The Frames, and Czech singer songwriter Marketa Irglova. The songs are more than sonic wallpaper, they weave the narrative of the film.

Hansard, who some might recognize from his small role in Alan Parker’s soul-infused The Commitments, stars as a musician who was on the cusp of making it big in London, but after his girlfriend cheated on him and his mother passed away he moved back to Dublin to live and work with his father. Hansard spends his lonely days fixing vacuum cleaners in his dad’s shop and his nights busking on street corners for pocket money. Irglova is a poor Czech immigrant who takes to Hansard’s street music and strikes up a conversation with him about what the lyrics mean.

Turns out she can play some mad Mendelssohn on the piano and has relationship problems of her own — not to mention a busted vacuum. The pair becomes fast friends as Irglova pulls Hansard out of his depression and helps him to record a professional demo – all-in-one marathon weekend session — that he can take to London to relaunch his career. Along the way they discuss grand plans for life, struggle with their mutual attraction and make fantastic music together.

Neither Hansard nor Irglova are trained actors, and the film is all the better for it. Once is a simple narrative that holds great depth through its resounding themes and openhearted performances — both musical and dramatic. The inclusion of several classic songs by Hansard’s band The Frames makes this film one of the best modern musicals I’ve seen. Like the lilting, opening bars of Hansard’s “Falling Slowly” which go: “I don’t know you/ But I want you/ All the more for that/ Words fall through me/ And always fool me/ And I can’t react,” Once is a subtle, brutally honest and ultimately uplifting film. It’s so real, you wish these people existed. Rent it. You won’t be disappointed.

Here is the first trailer from David Gordon Green’s new drama, Snow Angels, which has been in limited release since the fall, and should see hit DVD later this year. The film stars Sam Rockwell and Kate Beckinsale as a warring couple in a small northern town — which is surprising for Green, who usually goes the southern gothic route (see: George Washington and All the Real Girls). Can’t wait for this one!