"Once" is an absolute gem - filled with pure magic from top to bottom. Even though it's a small, independent film it's huge on charm. So charming in fact, that even if by word-of-mouth it should have no problem finding a successful niche among the crowded summer movie season.

Set in Ireland, "Once" tells the story of a gentle, modest musician (Glen Hansard) with big dreams. To make ends meet, this sweet natured thirty-something fixes vacuum cleaners in his father's repair shop. His passion, however, is music. Whenever he's not replacing belts and bags he spends his time busking on the street. Hansard is such an accomplished singer/songwriter that his street performances are absolutely compelling. During the day, he croons cover songs (because he knows that's where the bigger tip money is) but by the light of the moon, he belts out his original songs with such a passionate yearning that it gave me chills. The thing that really gives "Once" such a solid hook is that the songs are so accessible and immediately winning that it not only lends legitimacy to the story, but makes you want to seek out the soundtrack the moment you leave the theater.

Soon Hansard's music catches the ear of an oddly attractive Slavic woman (Marketa Irglova). Though she is obviously taken with the street performer, there is a tentative arms-length nature to her manner. Once she finds out that he repairs vacuums, she shows up the following day with a problem Hoover which leads to one of the most endearing and heart-stirring cinematic moment since Bill Murray whispered in Scarlett Johannson's ear at the end of Lost in Translation.

Before long the two find themselves in a music store, and Hansand learns that Marketa is a pianist and has a remarkable knack for dressing up his guitar parts with lovely unobtrusive chording and simple counterpoint. But when she begins to harmonize on vocals the magic she brings to his spare arrangements is undeniable. Right away he is immensely smitten with this enigmatically soulful, vacuum dragging muse, but due to circumstances that are yet to be revealed, she spurns his advances before he can even form them into words.

Romance notwithstanding, they get on famously and their friendship is as harmonious as the magical duet that continues to bear inspired fruit. After walking her home one night at her doorstep he asks her if she might like to help him record a demo and the delight in her eyes is equal to a dozen marriage proposals joyously accepted. After finding a suitable drummer, bassist and lead player they timidly enter a studio and before you can say microphone Marketa has haggled the studio price to half of what the owner had originally quoted. After one look at the rangle gangle crew setting up in his soundstage, the recording technician pretty much rolls his eyes at the task ahead, but half way through the first track he's on board (pardon the pun) for good.

"Once" is one of the best musicals I've ever seen because firstly it uses songs to help tell the story in an organic manner (this isn't a traditional musical, like West Side Story or Dreamgirls, in which characters break into song to tell the story), and secondly, the film is also about music. It actually gives us a wonderfully intimate look into the songwriting process. "Once" is also a film about dreams and what it takes to keep them alive and turn them into reality. Most refreshing is how director John Carney manages to warm the heart and elicit strong emotion without even a trace of schmaltzy sentimentality.

"Once" isn't exactly a stylistic tour de force. The film is shot mostly handheld and ultimately, it quite reminded me of last year's independent gem The Puffy Chair. Not so much in terms of story but how the film was shot and how it really gets its juice from the likeability and sheer charisma of its lead characters. Their work is so unaffected that you completely forget that you're watching actors in front of cameras. Again credit Carney for creating an environment in which these terrific performers could simply do their thing.

Glen Hansard is well known in his homeland as the lead singer of The Frames and for his work in Alan Parker's The Commitments from over seventeen years ago. This guy is completely natural. There's nothing forced about this performance. What you see is what you get. And when Hansard sings, the film really comes alive (I just purchased the amazing soundtrack). I suspect that this movie will introduce this stunning talent to the states. Marketa Irglova is also a musician by trade and her performance is equally genuine. While her vocals are more subtle, they work as the perfect counterpart to Hansard's searingly haunting vocal chops. As a pair, Hansard and Irglova give you everything you want in a love story, and where their union ends up is most unexpected. Still it's an ultimately satisfying way to end the film.

I love, love, love this movie. I really can't say enough nice things about it. Even if you aren't a fan of music, you will find something to cherish in this beautiful, sincere, honest, and touching film. It's absolutely life-affirming and in a wonderfully subtle way champions the importance of family. It's completely ironic to me that the movie is called "Once" because I plan on seeing it at least five times before it leaves theaters. On a final note, shame on the MPAA for the R rating. Yes, there are a few F words, but they are just part of the Irish vernacular and hardly noticeable - this is a film folks of all ages are sure to enjoy. Don't let the R rating sway you from experiencing this magical film. It would be like throwing the baby out with the bath-water in the extreme.