just this once

I'm not a big "happily ever after" fan. In fact, I loathe the typical tales of damsels in distress and pretty princesses. I know - far from the sweet swooners I find in my peers, I am just not wooed by these simple fantasies. Fantasy I love, but it seems the Disney tales skim the surface of the deep, deep pools of what the imagination can hold.

Well, as obstinate as I can be against popular, ever after tales, I can be just as ecstatic about something wonderfully original. With a budget around $30,000, Once stole my heart. Not only did I watch exquisite characters develop in extreme and unpredictable ways, I also heard sweet music. Oh, the music! Don't get confused - some will say this is a musical and it is not. I think the confusion comes as a result of viewers being so excited about the music that their reviews are misunderstood. But, it is true - I was endeared to the music as much as the story.

How simple and sweet - innocent in the characters honest search for life. The leading male (Glen Hansard) is a vacuum fixer by day and a street singer by night, with his perfectly tortured guitar. Set in Ireland (endeared me from the very start), an ironical, granola-type girl enters with blunt praise for the vacuum-fixer's music. It all unravels from there, but how you would suspect.

Oh, please watch. Watch and do tell. Just what are you thinking when the scene closes, looking out on the windows of what will come.