Review of Brooklyn (2015) by Nicki M — 15 Oct 2016

Very nicely acted and filmed movie. I appreciated, but didn't necessarily like it.

The main problem I had was that I wasn't overly keen on Eilis. There were parts to her I found cruel (such as her behaviour to the young blonde girl and the not even opening Tony's letters). This isn't the fault of the film - but it is marketed as a romantic love story with a triangle. It's actually not that romantic. I feel like Eillis was railroaded into the relationship with Tony and just drifts into another with Jim. There's no chemistry or real emotion portrayed with either. She is dishonest and seems to just let life happen to her. Even her choice at the end is circumstance more than truly her own.

It did feel very real to the time period though and Soirse does a great job portraying Eillis. I can appreciate women had less options in that era and it was a different time and so would be interested to read the book and see if the character is more likeable there!