Movies like this don’t come along very often; Brooklyn is an old-fashioned romantic drama paced very deliberately, without the emotional peaks that moviegoers have come to expect.  It is beautifully photographed and very well acted, particularly by Saoirse Ronan (pronounced Seer-sha) as the Irish immigrant Eilis (pronounced Ailish) who arrives in Brooklyn in 1952 ready to start a new life away from her mother and sister.

John Crowley’s film (based on a novel by Colm Toíbín) follows Eilis as she travels to America alone, weakly tries to fit into a life she doesn’t want, finds gentle romance with an Italian lad (Emory Cohen), gradually grows into her own person, then travels back to Ireland and finds the uninvited opportunity to reassess everything and start over.  This movie feels like a book, what with its central triangle of developing love and “stranger in a strange land” feel.

Whether it is fair or not, the film invites viewers to take sides as Eilis begins to explore the desires of her heart.  Her romance with Tony is ridiculously polite; her growing attraction to Jim (Domhnall Gleeson) back in Ireland seems much more complex and real.  The film tries to convince its audience that Eilis has a choice to make, but she really doesn’t; back in 1952 a woman in her circumstances had but one choice.  The film uses a stock character (Miss Kelly) to trigger Eilis’ final deciding action — this seems like a complete cop-out.

Movies like to set up their audiences to follow  their protagonists to one specific outcome.  In this case, I found myself hoping that Eilis would make the other choice.  That, in itself, should be enough to disqualify it as good entertainment. But Brooklyn is a likable story regarding a woman coming of age who doesn’t really know what she wants, so many of its flaws can be forgiven.  ☆ ☆ ☆.  20 January 2016.