once notes

Dublin-set sort-of romance between a street musician and a young immigrant from Eastern Europe. Glen Hansard, lead singer of The Frames ("Lay Me Down" is a favourite tune of mine), plays the guy, Marketa Irglova plays the girl, and they wrote and perform all the tunes in the show. But don't go (or stay away) expecting CATS: The Village Voice writes "Hansard sings like Cat Stevens performing Damien Rice's songs for a Coldplay crowd as James Blunt forlornly looks on wishing that were him at the mike."Here's Stephanie Zacharek at Salon; "Although there's plenty of music, and plenty of joy, in "Once," it's ultimately a quiet, wistful picture: In its tone and mood, in the way it shows us young lovers wandering through a city and making it part of their story, it reminds me very much of Richard Linklater's quiet masterpiece "Before Sunrise." "Once" has a rare and buoyant generosity of spirit: The guy's elderly dad (played, wonderfully, by Bill Hodnett) doesn't look like much of a pop-music fan, but when his son plays him a tape of his music, he beams with pride, assuring his son how great it sounds."Check out Kenneth Turan's review for the Los Angeles Times. Date movie?