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Brooklyn, starring Saoirse Ronan, Emory Cohen and Domhnall Gleeson is one of the Ten Books I Can't Wait to See Onscreen so I'm relieved to hear they seem — if we can judge by this first lot of reviews — to have got it right! Now, if we could just see a trailer please, perhaps a poster, while we wait for the film to actually open.
In 1950s Ireland and New York, young Eilis Lacey has to choose between two men and two countries.Here's a few snippets of the warm, fuzzy feelings that heated up a chilly night in Utah:
From Gregory Ellwood at HitFix
After 20 minutes I'd written the not-so positive words "earnest" and "cutesy" in my notebook. Almost an hour and a half later I was so moved by what had transpired I was fighting back the tears.
The film has a gorgeous, almost classic postcard look thanks to Crowley's collaborations with cinematographer Yves Bélanger ("Dallas Buyers Club," "Wild") and production designer François Séguin. And if we're heaping praise on below-the-line talent, costume designer Odile Dicks-Mireaux ("An Education") deserves a ton of credit for chronicling Eilis' arc through increasingly bright and modern dresses as she begins to win over New York and come into her own.
Colm Toibin’s superior novel about a young woman torn between life and love in her native Ireland and her new home in New York has been turned into a beautiful and moving film in Brooklyn. Classily and classically crafted in the best sense by director John Crowley and screenwriter Nick Hornby, this superbly acted romantic drama is set in the early 1950s and provides the feeling of being lifted into a different world altogether, so transporting is the film’s sense of time and place and social mores. Older audiences will appreciate the film’s rare virtues and, if younger viewers can be convinced to check out this period piece, it could develop into a nice performer in specialized release.
From Brian Tallerico at Roger Ebert
With its melodramatic score and sumptuously photographed imagery of a snow-covered ‘50s New York City, I fought against John Crowley’s “Brooklyn” for about twenty minutes. Words like sentimental and maudlin crossed my mind and made it to my notebook. I'm not sure where it turned me. It could have been a look in Saoirse Ronan's eyes or a musical cue or just the right image, but I was helpless. It worked its magic. And, yes, this movie is magical.
Its real comparative cinematic brethren is the great “In America,” another film that wore its heart on its sleeve and dared the most cynical to remain cold-hearted. Like Jim Sheridan's movie, this is a beautiful film from top to bottom, a piece that worked the kind of old-fashioned, romantic movie magic on me in ways that are all too rare.One thing you'll notice, these are all guys doing the gushing. Men. So let's not call it a chick flick or any other such foolishness. It's a story about a woman to be sure — and Saoirse Ronan clearly carries the movie like a star —but it sounds like it's a classic love story that gets you in the gut no matter whether you tick the box M or F. Interesting to note, just as in a love story plot or too, these reviewers — who happen to be men — tried to resist, but ultimately were swept away by the charms of Brooklyn!
I can't wait for the chance to do so too.
Sources:
RogerEbert.com
The Hollywood Reporter
The Hit Fix