DECEMBER 7, 2015
I was at an event the other night, and at the table, the subject turned to current movies. We were arguing the merits of “Carol” or “Creed” or “Sicario,” but when “Brooklyn” came up, there was an audible warm sigh from everyone. “Brooklyn” seems to have that effect on moviegoers — finally an unabashed romantic movie about something. And they’re absolutely right.
“Brooklyn” is set in the early 1950s, and in Enniscorthy, Ireland, there’s not much of a future for a single girl such as Eilis (Saoirse Ronan). So her popular older sister Ruth (Fiona Glascott) arranges with a family friend in America, Father Flood (Jim Broadbent), to set up her sister with housing and a job so that she can have a future in Brooklyn, NY. An apprehensive Eilis agrees to the plan and in an emotionally devastating scene, the older generation of Enniscorthy stands at the dock to wave goodbye to the younger generation on board the ship which will hopefully bring them to better lives in America.
After a rough crossing, Eilis arrives in New York and settles into a women’s boarding house run by Irish landlady Mrs. Kehoe (Julie Walters, wonderful, doing her Julie Walters thing) and a clerk’s job at a top department store where her boss (Jessica Paré of “Mad Men”) takes Eilis under her wing. On paper, it looks like Eilis is set for success in Brooklyn, but she still must contend with debilitating bouts of homesickness.
All that changes, however, when she meets Italian-American Tony Fiorello (the impossibly adorable Emory Cohen) who woos her and finally summons up the courage to take her home to meet the family, including his wise-guy 8 year-old brother Frankie (scene-stealer James DiGiacomo). Most importantly, Tony adores her, giving Eilis a sense of self-confidence that she has never before known. How do we know? Because Eilis ditches her mousy wardrobe and begins to wear dresses with big bold colors, including a yellow number that’s a stunner. She has become deliriously happy with Tony, who proposes to her just as tragedy suddenly strikes her family, and she must return home to Enniscorthy.
Only it’s not home anymore, or at least the home she thought she knew. To the Irish in her town, Eilis is now an American, just as she is considered an Irish immigrant back in Brooklyn — a woman without a country. Her grieving mother (Jane Brennan) expects her to carry on as before and marry the town’s most eligible bachelor (Domhnall Gleeson, charming as always), and Eilis is painfully torn between her roots & family and her new life in America with Tony.
That dilemma is masterfully expressed through Saoirse Ronan, who gives one of the year’s best performances as Eilis. In less than a decade, Ronan has become one of the most skilled screen actors of her generation. What she can communicate with subtle changes of expression is at times breathtaking with a dexterity that makes it very hard to believe that she’s only 21 years old.
Like many Irish stories, “Brooklyn” does occasionally fall back on cliches. Despite Broadbent’s best efforts, his Father Flood comes dangerously close to the movie stereotype of an Irish priest, and why oh why does there always seem to be an Irish tenor who stands up to inspire the downtrodden with a mournful tune from the old country. (I’m Irish-American, and if I ever tried to do something like that, my father would whack me.)
Nonetheless, it is so refreshing in this age of Trump to see a story celebrating the contributions of immigrants to this country. And in telling Eilis’ particular story, it brings that message home with an impact that no scholarly message ever could. Plus a tear or two. Bring Kleenex.
GRADE: B+
