Once (June 24, 2007)

Patricia, Patrick and I went to see this movie at Camelview. I'd recommend seeing it. The movie is about a street performer in Ireland; he's pretty much in the down-and-out stage. A Czech immigrant gets interested; turns out she is a very fine singer and pianist. So they make music, and their relationship is nice.

They make a recording, using some other street performers to constitute "the band." (I guess this aspect had some genesis in the lead actor's personal story.)

When I was watching the movie, I was surprised at how much singing was included, and felt the plot was not developed much. (Those two issues go hand in hand, as the inclusion of several three-five minute songs really cuts down the time available for the story.)

But I realize I missed the point. This was a musical. It just didn't look like a traditional musical. It had about the story line depth for a traditional musical - which is fine, many of those are great stories. So I conclude that I liked this.

I heard that the production budget was only $150,000 or so, which seems unbelievable.