Dedicated to you....and you---Saoirse Ronan as an Irish immigrant in New York caught up in a love triangle and Emory Cohen as one of the love interests in Brooklyn
After her Oscar nominated performance in Atonement, I have found myself wishing Saoirse Ronan would get more recognition. It's not like she's disappeared off the face of the earth or anything. She's been excellent in films such as How I Live Now, Byzantium and The Grand Budapest Hotel since then and yet she hasn't gotten much praise. This makes me wonder if young actresses who take on roles in more traditional mainstream fare like Jennifer Lawrence, Shailene Woodley and Elizabeth Olsen (not to discount the extreme talent of those three) have taken the spotlight away from Ronan, who decides to go for more indy films. With the arrival of the drama Brooklyn, I can safely say that people will start giving Ronan the recognition she deserves. In fact, it would be a crime if this isn't an outcome of the film. Here, Ronan gives a deep, thought provoking, sympathetic, funny and downright phenomenal performance. As for the rest of the film, it's damned good, too.
Ronan plays Ellis, a young woman who moves from Ireland to Brooklyn to find opportunities only presented in America. One of those opportunities is a boyfriend, the sweet and dedicated Tony (Emory Cohen,) whom she instantly falls for. Very quickly, Ellis and Tony get really serious (Tony even introduces Ellis to his family, who takes an instant liking to her.) However, Ellis must travel back to Ireland for reasons I choose not to say and is introduced to Jim (Domnhall Gleeson,) a lovely lad with all the charm she'll ever need. Soon, Ellis finds herself deciding between the two men, both of whom she falls for.
Right off the bat, I have to mention Ronan and Cohen's excellent chemistry It is so palpable that I have a hard time believing they didn't fall in love in real life on the set. They are electric together and feel completely genuine. This is completely helped by the fact that both of them are terrific, rising young stars. Gleeson is also excellent, providing a character who Ellis would believably fall for despite her love for Tony.
The other stand out here is the screenplay, written by the wonderful Nick Hornby. As he did with last year's Wild, he takes a popular book (this one by Colm Toibin) that easily could have been turned into an unsatisfying adaptation and makes the dialogue and actions sparkle. Hornby also cuts much more than a film about a woman caught in a love triangle should ever be allowed to. As with Wild, this is a surprisingly funny film about people trying to do the right thing while finding themselves that also lays on the emotionally devastating moments with perfection.
This is also helped by director John Crowley (who did the excellent and criminally underrated films Boy A, Intermission and Is Anybody There but also did the bland and forgettable Closed Circuit.) Here, Crowley does a lot more than get a lot of nice landscape shots. Through his directing, he gets deep into the heart of these characters, showing why they are the way they are and making them as three dimensional and multi layered as possible.
Brooklyn is a wonderful, delightful film about the decisions we make and how they end up shaping us. It is a character study with all the aching realism that one may not expect from the movies nowadays and features some of the best performances of the year. Come Oscar time, I think Ronan, Cohen, Crowley and Hornby should all be on that nomination list.
(5 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated PG-13 for a scene of sexuality and brief strong language)
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