Once

In an age when "musical" usually means jungle animals singing Elton John songs or the splashy, sequined Hollywood drag-show theatrics of DREAMGIRLS, writer-director John Carney's scrappy, song-driven tale of love among Dublin's street musicians seems downright revolutionary. Focusing strictly on stripped-down performances of great music and the charming chemistry between the two leads, it's a perfectly realized yet unassuming movie that deserves to find a big audience.

When he's not helping his widowed father (Bill Hodnett) at the family-owned vacuum repair shop, our unnamed hero (Glen Hansard, singer/songwriter of the Irish band the Frames) is out on Dubli...