Friday, December 4, 2015

Movie Review Madness - Brooklyn

The new film Brooklyn is an immigrant tale written by Nick Hornby.  1950s small town Ireland does not offer a lot of room for growth. It’s a land of predictability – you live, marry, and die. But more is meant for Eilis Lacey. Her sister Rose arranges via the priest for Eilis to travel to Brooklyn, live in a respectable boarding house, and work at a department store.  Rose will stay in Ireland, continue working as a bookkeeper, and care for their mother. So Eilis ventures into an unknown world. After a bout of homesickness, she soon meets a young man. It’s shocking but he’s Italian.  But it’s not Ireland. It’s America, and it’s okay. Eilis grows into her job – learning to laugh and interact with customers. The local priest (Jim Broadbent) sponsors her night school so she can achieve her dream to someday become an accountant. She’s blossoming before our eyes into an independent young woman – an American.

Circumstance bring her back to Ireland and she has to face her past to decide on her future. The auld sod is in her heart, but she’s torn. She has a new life in Brooklyn.  This tender movie is sweet, poignant, and well-acted. Saoirse Ronan’s clear blue eyes captivate the screen. She’s excellent and you root for her. Jim Broadbent is perfect as the local priest looking out for her. Julie Walters is a welcome presence as the boarding house marm. Emory Cohen, Tony the Italian suitor, is a charmer. And Domhnall Gleeson is the Irish lad in the old home town.

Brooklyn presents choices, growth, humor, love, and tells a tale about home and what the word embodies. It’s rich and presents the energy of America. It’s a good movie to see in this holiday season and to give thanks.



14 comments:

  1. Hi Joanne - I gather it is wonderful ... I think it'll have to be one I catch at a later date - I'd hope to see it locally .. but having been away - life catches up with me .. and has caught and I missed it! Cheers Hilary

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    1. yes - I really liked this one a lot. It's just a nice "calm" well done movie. Have a good weekend

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  2. Sounds like a movie I would like, but I'm not so sure about Smarticus. Doesn't sound like there's a lot of action in it...

    Have a super weekend!

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    1. There are no Stormtroopers or Wookies either - this is a good alternative to Star Wars mania

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  3. Sounds like my kind of movie...coming from a woman of Irish heritage married to man of Italian heritage (with some Irish and German tossed in for good measure).

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    1. you will definitely get a kick out of this one

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  4. Oh this sounds like a good one. I hope I get the chance to see it. Thank you for the review.

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    1. a winner - hope you can see it too (and agree with me)

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  5. Good review. It sounds like the movie has an interesting story.

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  6. Sounds like a high quality holiday gem. We need more of these.
    Be well and have a nice weekend, Joanne.

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    1. yes, this is a nice calm in a sea of blow em up movies

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  7. It sounds like a great film which deserves to do well. Unfortunately, I bet it gets shoved aside by the blockbusters and ends up on cable fairly soon. Which is good for me. Because I'm generally too cheap to go to the movies anymore.

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    1. and that is okay - keep your eye out for it soon

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  8. We saw Brooklyn, and it was a nice old-fashioned movie that you would even feel comfortable seeing with your grandmother. I also thought the acting was good, but I didn't like her mother's reaction, and felt it needed a more climactic ending. My biggest surprise was my husband reaction to the film. I thought it seemed more like a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie on CBS, but he enjoyed it more than I did. Go see Trumbo, and let me know what you think. Great review, Joanne!

    Julie

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