"You'll Have to Think Like an American..."

Lately it seems as if I have been coming across a lot of films that haven't been particularly good, but I was recently delightfully surprised when I watched this film Brooklyn. I wasn't actually thinking that it was going to be any good going into it, but I was quite wrong. The film is about a young Irish woman in the 1950's, Ellis, who immigrates to the United States to New York City, and starts a new life. She has some difficulty settling in, but then she meets a young Italian man, Tony, and together they begin a romance. However, unexpected disaster has her return to Ireland, and then she isn't certain if she wants to return to New York City. The film is based on the book written by Colm Toibin, who is an Irish writer. The lead role, Ellis, is played fantastically by Saoirse Ronan. She is such a talented actress, and really delved deeply into her character in such a remarkable way. From the beginning to the end of the film her character when through a dynamic change, and it was gradual, so it came off as genuine rather than forced or rush. Emory Cohen played Tony, the romance interest, and although his character was really static, he proved to be an anchor for her character which resulted in a balance to the two characters. Jim Broadbent had a small role as an Irish Priest who sponsored Ellis to come to the United States, which is always a great addition to have him in any film. Domnhall Gleeson played Jim Farrell, who turns out to be an Irish version of Tony that Ellis finds on her return to Ireland. Although he does a delightful job with his role, it is honestly quite static, which as it does with the role of Tony, works wonderfully in the film with the other characters. The majority of the cast doesn't really have any other big names, but all of them gave spectacular performances that without the film wouldn't have been anywhere near as good. The biggest attraction to this film is of course Ms. Ronan, who as an actress has really stepped up her game, and was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance of Ellis.
The Director, John Crowley, who is from Ireland did a fantastic job bringing this film together and really giving it heart, as trite as that may sound, but true it very much is. And credit has to go to the screenwriter Nick Hornby, who's pen created elegant and powerful dialog and different scene set-ups. The music by Michael Brook was unfortunately not memorable, but it at least didn't detract from the quality of the film. The cinematography by Yves Belanger was quite good; there was something very crisp and fresh about how the film was shot, especially with the scenes in Ireland, but then there was something antiquated almost with how the New York scenes were filmed. The end result was something very lovely. Now for most films that are set in the modern period, I don't really mention that much about the costume design, but there was something very exquisite about the style and design of the clothes. Odile Dicks-Mireaux was the costume designer and this individual I really do have to say did an excellent job of capturing the essence of the characters of the film. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this film. I laughed a whole lot, and even teared up a little bit at the end. It is a quality film that I highly recommend for other people to watch. Since it is Christmas, I do want to wish everyone in the whole world a very merry Christmas and a great New Year! Some good news for me personally is that I am teaching college level classes and enjoying it, with the foreseeable future of that being my current career. If the trend continues, it will be a miraculous finish to quite a dreadful year. As Tiny Tim said it best, "God bless us, everyone."
Interview with Saoirse Ronan for Brooklyn
Ocean's 8 trailer (who knows if this will be any good, but at least it has a good cast).
Avengers Infinity War trailer (looks good).