Once

Impressions before seeing it
The little indie movie that everyone seemed to love, and I remembered it winning an Oscar for Best Original Song. Saw it was coming on TV and jumped at the chance.

How was it?
To describe it simply, Once is like Lost in Translation, only Irish and with music. It's two very likable characters who meet, hang out for a few weeks writing and playing music, and then part in spite of the bond they've formed. It's part of that "hangin' out" genre of movies that I've expressed love for in the past, but it's also a musical and a romance. A nontraditional romance - the kind I like best - because there's no physical affection involved and the ending is far from Hollywood, but the sparks are clearly there. The two leads are really natural and have wonderful chemistry, and that combined with a handheld camera style gives it a realistic documentary feel that totally works for a movie about lower class characters like these. I got so into it that I didn't even realize until the end of the movie that the main characters don't have names.

I would also like to mention briefly that the music, while not normally my kind of thing, is so full of emotion that it is the physical love between these two characters. The harmonies in some of the vocals were so beautiful that they became emotionally moving - at least to me - particularly in "Falling Slowly", the song that won the Oscar.

Recommendation
If you're looking for a movie that is cute and beautiful (you can choose to view it as either a friendship or a romance) and will probably make your heart smile and weep at the same time (mostly smile), look no further. I think the genius of Once is that it's not as sentimental as it could be; rather than throw tons of heart at you like Hollywood romances often try to do, it just puts these two wonderful people out there and lets you feel it for yourself.