Review of Brooklyn (2015) by Mike B — 24 Feb 2016

Repressed Irish girl without prospects seeks better ones in New York.

Then the sister she left behind, the picture of health in her only scene, drops dead. Suddenly and without explanation. Actually, the "drop" is implied, not shown, requiring us to assume that the girl does not usually sleep on the floor with her body situated perpendicular to her bed. These things happen, the viewer is left to assume.

Perhaps a broken heart was her undoing? At least that would agree with the film's syrupy tone.

The sister's passing compells a dutiful voyage back to Ireland, where she almost immediately takes up with a puppy dog suitor. Why a man of such obvious prospects must dote on a taciturn outsider of questionable beauty is left unresolved. But in a complete inversion of her previous experience in the place, even jobs now throw themselves at her feet. Who says a little international experience is undervalued?

There's just one wrinkle separating the heroine from eternal bliss: she's married, a fact that she conceals from her mother, even before embarking on her parallel courtship. In fact, her efforts to trade-up are only foiled by knowledge of her existing NY marriage somehow finding its way back home. Somehow the messenger, the woman who confronts her about her two-timing, is portrayed as the callous bitch.

All a bit convoluted, really.