Once in a while...a really good movie like this is made

Rating: 9/10 (28 June 2011)

1. I never heard of "The Frames" or Glen Hansard prior to watching this film.
2. I never heard all the hype surrounding this movie prior to watching it.
3. I'm no shill or movie insider trying to hype this movie.
4. I simply watched this movie, and was blown away.
To my way of thinking, this is the way movies ought to be made. To say that it was not over-done would be an understatement. (To the reviewer who compared this to that tripe movie with Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore (Music And Lyrics, 2007), and who went on to say that THAT movie was better, all I can say is: "WHAT?!!!")
This movie managed to say more with less than just about any other movie I'd ever seen. It didn't have a nice little "happy ever after" ending, and I think that that must have really confused the people who trashed this film. And while I really hate people who throw around expressions like: "Anyone who didn't like this movie really didn't 'get it'", I feel that in this instance, it's justified.
This was an extremely well done, low budget movie. Obviously, it relied heavily on the music, and if you don't like the music, you're not going to like the movie. But to say that this movie had nothing meaningful to say is really missing the whole point.
Hansard and Irglova achieved some of the greatest musical harmonies I've ever heard, while creating a naturalness that is rarely if ever seen in so-called "blockbuster" type movies. I for one absolutely appreciated that naturalness. And if there were an unevenness to the film, I believe it's because LIFE is uneven. Relationships are uneven. Emotions are uneven. And I fell that this film reflected that type of unevenness perfectly. That's not to say that the film was perfect -- it had its flaws. But overall, this movie ranks among the best films I've ever seen.