All of my instincts tell me not to hype Once because it's the kind of small film that may crumble under the weight of someone's high expectations, but as its characters might say in a charming Irish brogue or beautiful Czech sneer, *** all that.
Every review I've read has contained some variation of the phrase "This is the musical for people who hate musicals" but more accurately, I'll say this is the musical for people who generally hate musicals because they so desperately want to love musicals. (In case you don't know, that's me.)
It's 'gritty' and 'realistic' but also an amazing fairy tale. It's 88 minutes that capture more truth and pain about love and the creative process than any movie I've maybe ever seen, yet it's a fantasy anyone with a soul hopes might happen to them.
To say much more would cheapen it.
See this movie.