Brooklyn

The Catholic priests in this film played a very different role than in the last film I had seen. Fortunately, I prefer them in this role.
Eilis Lacey (Saoirse Ronan) is an Irish girl but her life in rural Ireland is going nowhere. She works for a shrew of a woman in a deli and has no romantic interests or better job prospects. Fortunately, her sister, Rose (Fiona Glasgott, playing someone much nicer than her character in Indian Summers) writes to a priest in America who sponsors Eilis to immigrate. So she leaves, joining to Brooklyn where she has a job lined up, plus a place to live. Eilis is someone plain and boring compared to the other girls who have been in the county longer and are more worldly. She suffers from extreme homesickness. Even her job is in danger. She does love her night course that Father Flood (Jim Broadbent) signed her up for and then, at an Irish dance she meets the Italian Tony Fiorello (Emory Cohen) whom she likes a lot. Once she has a guy in her life, she becomes a whole new person, friendlier to her patrons and finally, happy. While I take offense that a woman needs a man in her life to be happy, if you are thousands of miles away from home, you do need someone who is nice  and kind and loves you. And Tony does. Also radical for a man in the 1950s, he doesn't care that she's much smarter than him. Tony is a plumber while Eilis aspires to be a bookkeeper or accountant. She does very well in her college course, Mrs. Kehoe (Julie Walters, also playing someone very different and nicer from her role in Indian Summers) is thrilled as Eilis was the first girl who aced college exams.
Then, Rose dies and Eilis travels home to comfort her mother who wants nothing more, though she doesn't say so, to have Eilis home permanently. Too bad Eilis and Tony secretly married to ensure her return to him.
Eilis is there for her mother and her friend, who is getting married but things start falling into place back in Ireland. She gets the job her sister's death left open and even has a good fellow, Jim Farrell (Domnhall Gleeson) in her life. And his parents are retiring to another town so he will have the house to himself. Eilis does like him and surely would have stayed in Ireland if this is how things had been in the beginning, she would have never had to leave. Things are going well in Ireland, she leaves Tony's letters unopened and can't figure out what she wants to write him but things change at Nancy's (Eileen O'Higgins) wedding. Jim asks her to marry him but even though she is flattered, disinterest is also written on her face. She does make the decision to return home, which I figured she would as the title of the film would suggest because her former boss has a connection to the U.S. who heard word of Eilis's marriage to the Italian. Eilis had forgotten how gossipy and old-fashioned Ireland was. She almost immediately returns to Brooklyn where she rushes to Tony's arms. Now, also of note, before Eilis returned to Ireland, she and Tony consummated their relationship so I am also glad she decided to return on her own, not because a pregnancy forced her to. Her return also gave her the opportunity to be a mentor to another girl leaving home for the first time.
While this film was a little predictable, it was still a sight to behold. The sets truly looked like they were in the 1950s and the actors behaved exactly as they would in the 1950s, with the guys actually being gentlemen, proving now that chivalry is dead. Ronan in a revelation and fully deserves every award and nomination bestowed on her. She just won the New York Film Critic Award, and she is great, as the main focus of the film is on her. Eilis is a fully developed character and drives the film, something that you don't see too often in films currently. The supporting actors were also great, and Cohen should have a big career after this film. I got vibes of a young Marlon Brando from his performance. He is also great, but the film doesn't belong to him, it belongs to her, and he truly makes her shine. Grade: A-