On the early flight to Orlando the other day, I was exhausted but didn't want to crash out. Too tired to read (at least that's what I told myself) I decided to pony up the ten bucks for an Alaska Airlines digEplayer to keep me occupied for a few hours. I have been wanting to see the movie Once for quite a while, and lucky for me it was on the player.

Now I am in love. I can't think of one thing I don't love about it. I so want to go on and on about how beautifully this story of a nontraditional romance is told through great chemistry between the main characters, moments of closeness and friendship, sometimes quirky, but frank, dialogue, and, best of all, hauntingly gorgeous music. The thought of trying to explain is overwhelming to me.

I want to tell you how the ending isn't tied up neatly like the storybook version of perfect love, but it is still so hopeful and meaningful. The film takes into account life circumstances, love in its many forms, timing, responsibility, and it fully acknowledges the enduring ties that bind us to our pasts. Sometimes I feel like the message we get from mainstream movies is that when one thing doesn't work out, we should be able to quickly move on to the next, with a minimal amount of emotional fuss, like that is the "right" way to behave. But, often it isn't necessarily that simple or possible. It's not our truth. I appreciate that Once fully acknowledges this while exploring the complexity and beauty of relationships that develop in the middle of dealing with life's messiness. At the end, one of the main characters is walking through an airport corridor that has glossy posters on the wall of what looks like pretty landmarks with the word Imperfect stamped across the front. I liked that so much. I felt like it was the message of the story. The relationship explored, or not explored, in the movie could only be described as imperfect as far as what you may want to happen, but it is still so great.

I must buy the soundtrack immediately. Someone find me a music store in Disney World - Stat!