Review of BROOKLYN: Saoirse's Showcase

January 28, 2016

Most of its buzz surrounding "Brooklyn" comes from the lead performance of Irish actress Saoirse Ronan, which has so far earned her Best Actress nominations from the Golden Globes, Critics Choice, BAFTA, SAG and of course, Oscar. It also earned two more nominations for the 88th Oscar Awards for Best Adapted Screenplay and the biggest prize of all, Best Picture itself. Even if the trailer suggests that this film would be a simple sedate period romance which is not exactly my cup of tea, it still has to be seen to see what the big buzz is all about.

It was 1952. Eilis Lacey is a young woman from a small Irish town who worked for a mean old maid, Miss Kelly. Thanks to her older sister Rose, Eilis bravely accepts the opportunity to travel and try her luck in Brooklyn in New York City, where a lot of Irish folk have migrated to seek greener pastures. Meeting the kind Tony Fiorello helped Eilis buck her homesickness and gives her inspiration. However, when a family emergency necessitated her to return back to her Irish hometown, she found that she may actually have a place there after all. Will she be able to go back to Brooklyn and to Tony who was anxiously waiting for her return?

It is clearly evident why most of the awards buzz is on Ms. Saoirse Ronan. She is resplendently luminescent in her portrayal of Eilis. We have seen this young actress grow up with her two other Oscar-nominated roles in "Atonement" (2007) and in "The Lovely Bones" (2009), where she played unusually complex roles way for someone her very young age. She is only 21 years old now, and this is already her third Oscar nomination, her first for the lead role. In contrast with her two previous roles, her role as Eilis is pretty straightforward. However, Ms. Ronan played her with so much elegance and grace, an uplifting performance of a role which may be seem so ordinary in the hands of a lesser actress. 

Emory Cohen played Tony with the requisite charm and gentility required of this critical role as Eilis' first love. Cohen played Tony so well that Domhnall Gleeson had a hard time competing with him as Jim Farrell, the boy Eilis meets in Ireland when she goes back. The veteran actors Jim Broadbent and Julie Walters do the most they can with their limited roles as Fr. Flood (Eilis' sponsor to Brooklyn) and Ms. Madge (Eilis' landlady). Northern Irish actress Brid Brennan played with starchy spite that most memorably hateful character, Miss Kelly. I liked how she dripped with bitterness with her every line.

As a whole, "Brooklyn" is a pleasant enough film with its clean crisp cinematography and excellent production design. I did feel that the story was too simple and old-fashioned for a film competing for Best Picture. In fact, when it ended, I thought "that's it?". I think the chances of winning the big prize are quite slim, given the more challenging subject matter of the other nominated films. Its primary conceit is rightfully the graceful and dignified central performance of Saoirse Ronan. She is the main reason this film deserves to be seen. 7/10.