QUICK HIT: Once (Carney, 2007)

Once is a wonderful, sweet film. The plot could fit on a postage stamp, but this is the film’s great virtue. Instead of mudding up the film with contrivances or a hurried romance — in the hands of a less assured director this is exactly what would have happened — Once allows its characters to breathe, allows the action to unfurl at its own pace, and from this emerges a deep well of emotion and honesty. For what it is Once is nearly perfect.

Rating: 77

~ by Scottie Ferguson on February 17, 2008.