Review of Brooklyn (2015) by Jason C — 05 Mar 2016

Brooklyn falls easily into my two favorite movies of 2015. Although I watched it just before the Oscars, I'm so glad I caught this film in theaters. Everything about it is fantastic. Such an emotional 2 hours.

I can't describe how unbelievable Saoirse Ronan is as the lead (she's the little girl from Hanna). She's surrounded by a recognizable cast, all doing an unbelievable job, but still stands out among them. Her facial expressions tell most of the story. The cinematography is amazing. They took advantage of every setting.

It's rare that a movie is so successful without a villain. I always use Worlds Fastest Indian as an example. It's also a great film (although it doesn't compare to Brooklyn) without any "bad guys," and still works on every level. The writer created dilemma with Eilis' situation and did so in a brilliant fashion.

The one thing about Brooklyn is that about half way through it switches gears and loses what was making it just about a perfect movie. The story keeps progressing, but the movie carries so much more weight earlier on that it would be hard to keep pace for the entire run-time.

If you're the kind of person who doesn't mind being the youngest one in the theater (I'm 45 and was by far the youngest), Brooklyn is a movie that is not to be missed. It's been nominated for numerous awards and rightfully so.