Brooklyn-2015

Director John Crowley

Starring Saoirse Ronan

Scott’s Review #298

Reviewed December 12, 2015

Grade: A

Brooklyn (2015) is a classic-style Hollywood film that I adored watching. It has a genuine innocence, with wonderful, powerful acting and perfect cinematography/art direction.

The film is conventional and mainstream, but never sappy.

Based on Colm Tóibín’s popular novel, Brooklyn is set in the early 1950s in Ireland and New York City.

Eilis Lacey, played by Saoirse Ronan, is a young Irish girl with good morals and traditional values. She is faithful and Catholic, with a good upbringing.

Not rich by any means, she is intelligent and uses good sense, working hard on weekends in a grocery run by an unkind woman to save money.

Thankfully, her older sister Rose, whom Eilis adores, has scrimped and saved enough for Eilis to study in the United States through a church program.

Rose doesn’t want Eilis trapped in the small Irish town.

While in New York City, an event forces Eilis to return to Ireland. At home, she faces a romantic dilemma that makes her wonder whether to return to her new life in New York City or stay in Ireland.

Eilis is conflicted, which is the story’s main focus.

On paper, one might assume Brooklyn is sappy, a “chick flick,” or a trite romance with predictability for miles, but it isn’t. Everything about the film is perfect and highly detailed.

The pieces somehow fit together- good direction, good camerawork, good acting, and good storytelling.

Throughout the film, I found myself emotionally invested.

When Eilis meets the young, charming Tony, a working-class Italian American who becomes infatuated with her, I worried about how the film would handle their different backgrounds.

Their courtship is sweet and tender, and I cheered for them as their slow romance builds.

She is taught to eat pasta correctly to impress his traditional parents. He walks her home every night. Tony and Eilis have a sweetness and purity that is hard not to fall in love with as an onlooker.

On the other hand, when dramatic events unfold, the excellent acting makes Brooklyn a delight and quite emotionally powerful. One might find themselves in a flood of tears by the end.

Thanks to Ronan, an impressive talent since my discovery of her work in 2007’s Atonement, she elicits in Eilis a strength and stoicism that is tested when she breaks down at one point in the film.

Also worth mentioning are the awe-inspiring performances by Fiona Glascott as Eilis’s sister Rose and Jane Brennan as Eilis’s mother.

Unknown actresses (to me), both deliver dramatic, dynamic performances in their roles.

Veteran character actors Jim Broadbent and Julie Walters are wonderful as Father Flood and Madge, respectively.

What a visual treat Brooklyn is!

As the title suggests, most of the action takes place in this New York City borough, and the influx of Irish and Italian immigrants during this period is evident in the clothing and cinematography.

Ireland’s lush green, vast landscape makes it a pleasure to view.

A story of bravery, romance, and kindness, Brooklyn (2015) is a wholesome, feel-good film, and I was immersed in the story and its look from the very first shot.

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture, Best Actress-Saoirse Ronan, Best Adapted Screenplay