Brooklyn is the touching story of an Irish family, in 1952 that lives in Enniscorthy, Ireland. Eilis (pronounced AY-lish) Lacey, (Saoirse Ronan) is one of two young girls who lives with, their now single mother, Mrs. Lacey (Jane Brennan) because their father has passed away. Eilis works weekends at a shop run by an extremely spiteful woman named Miss Kelly, (Bríd Brennan) while Eilis’ sister, Rose Lacey (Fiona Glascott) works as a bookkeeper. Rose has always taken care of Eilis as well as looked after their mother. Wanting the best for her sister, Rose arranges for Eilis to go to America as part of an exchange program through their church in Ireland and Father Flood, (Jim Broadbent) an American priest in Brooklyn.
Upon her arrival in America, Eilis would live in a Brooklyn boarding house with other female Irish immigrants and work at a prestigious department store as she learned the ways of the world and perhaps meet someone to eventually share her life with. The boarding house was strictly run by Madge Kehoe (Julia Walters) who made sure all the girls walked the straight and narrow. The two sisters would write each other frequently and share all the information about their lives they could. Life was somewhat boring in their small town of Enniscorthy and only slightly escalated in America until Eilis met an Italian suitor named Tony Fiorello (Emory Cohen). Everything about her changed for the better and this is where I stop. There’s not that much more to tell except that this story was told in such a way that it took the ordinary and made it tender, sweet, exciting and a sort of learning experience for all. Brooklyn is a little slow but still interesting. Added, was a little drama and a little mystery since we didn’t know how things would end up. A few surprises kept you just interested enough to stick with it.
[BROOKLYN is nominated for Best Picture, Best Actress and Adapted Screenplay]
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