once.

Um, wow. I told myself if this movie was even half as corny and cheesy as the über-lame August Rush with it's predictable Hollywood characters, plot and ending (um, could I please get those two hours of my life back?) I would turn it off immediately. But this short little Irish movie totally blew me away. And by no means do I intend to turn this blog into one of video critiques but it is pretty rare I am so blown away by a movie. The ending is perfect and will leave you wanting more. And the songwriting is simple but powerful.

My favourite scene is when this group of ad hoc musicians gather at a studio in Ireland and screw around for a bit and the engineer is on his mobile saying he's stuck in the studio with this bunch of f*ckups. They're all ready but he blows them off for a second to finish his conversation, then gets the hard disks rolling and grabs a magazine and kicks his feet up on the mixing desk. Then, after the first chorus when the song starts to crescendo the camera cuts back to him and he puts the zine down and pushes a fader and tweaks a knob. Then the band really gets into it and the singer's voice – Glen Hansard – starts wailing perfectly in pitch and a smile crests the engineer's face and he starts mixing away. It's a spectacular scene.

The chemistry between the two main characters – played by Hansard and Markéta Irglová (both actually wrote all the songs for the film) – is undeniable but perfectly restrained throughout, both with their own set of circumstances impossible but incredibly real. Incredibly real.

In any regard, it really was a wonderful film.