A Review of the Film, Once

"Once" is the story of what happens when a boy meets a girl and they make beautiful music together, literally. This movie combines two things I loathe, a reverence for music culture and "slice of life" or "hyper-realism" movies. Luck throws a guy (Glen Hansard) and a girl (Markïta Irglovï) in each other's paths. They learn about each other's musical talents and screwed up love lives. They play music, learn about each other and eventually record a song.

In those three sentences I gave away everything except the ending. Doesn't sound like much of a plot, does it? It isn't much of a plot. There is little to no character development, nothing in their lives changes, there is nothing to the movie. There are scenes that in the end make no difference to the movie. I find it insulting that a film maker, in this case John Carney is both the writer and director, studios, and actors would make a movie that I have to sit through that has no plot. I don't want to watch a movie, a play or a television show that is about nothing. Could you imagine reading a book or hearing someone tell a story with no point? Listening to a song that has the last five measures missing? Why do we accept it as interesting from a visual media point of view? Shame on you for making me sit through an hour and a half of a story and then closing the book without giving me a reason to commit my time and energy to these characters. Shame on you John Carney for wasting my time.

The writer also has a hard on from musicians. So you can sing, guy, why should I care about you? Your singing isn't skill enough to make you interesting or valuable. John Carney never bothers to give you a reason, other than their music, to give a flying fig about them. Sure he throws in their screwed up romantic relationships but in the end their relationships are just as useless as their music.