Sundance 2007: Once

I had every intention of grabbing a sandwich or a slice between movies on Tuesday.
Instead, "Once" inspired me to have a nice plate of linguine with clams and a glass of wine at Mr Z's next door to the Broadway Centre Cinemas. (It was good, and I chased it with lemon sorbet and an espresso in case you wondered).
In the catalogue and even in the intro from director/writer John Carney "Once" is described as a musical. I prefer to say it is a movie about music.
The nameless, non-actors, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova are lovely people who it would be fun to spend sometime with. He is a vacuum repairman/street musician/song writer. She is a Czech immigrant who lives with her mother and young daughter. She can't afford a piano, but is allowed to practice in a music shop on lunch break.
The two meet when she walks up to him and asks if he wrote the song he is playing. When he confirms it is his, she asks why he doesn't play it during the day. She is delightfully pushy asking very personal questions on early acquaintance. They become friends through their music and despite his failed pass at her.
Hansard and Irglova sing and play beautifully together and it's hard to believe that neither of them is a professional actor. Though Hansard was in "The Committments," and his character ends that movie busking on the street where "Once" begins, he is better known in Ireland as both a solo performer and the guitarist for The Frames.
"Once" is an inspiring and sweet film with a happy ending, though not the predictable happiest of all Hollywood endings. I walked out smiling and treated myself to a nice dinner.