Brooklyn

A moving story. 
Anyone who has been waiting for a big romance should head to Brooklyn today. (The film, not the city.)

Newbie director John Crowley’s robust romantic drama tells the story of Eilis (Saoirse Ronan), a wallflower from a small town in 1950’s Ireland who reluctantly leaves her family for job security in New York. She moves to Brooklyn and eventually meets Tony (Emory Cohen), a young Italian plumber. When these two lock hearts, it’s the type of startling movie magic I’m not sure we’ve seen since Jack met Rose in 1998. 

Brooklyn is a romance first, but it finds extra purpose by telling the story of a young woman struggling to find her place in this world and hoping to build a better life. It’s hard not to feel something during every moment of this lush film. 

Last year, the best movies of the year were edgy, inventive films (Birdman, Boyhood and Budapest). This year’s best films are non-cynical Hollywood classics: a newspaper detective story (Spotlight), a cold war thriller (Bridge of Spies) and Brooklyn, a non-cynical gusher. While I’ve been looking for the next new thing, it appears the best films of 2015 are throwbacks to what Hollywood does best — the type of films that “Hollywood doesn’t produce anymore.” I like it both ways; I think I’ll just start looking for movies that begin with a “B.”

Simply put: Straight outta Brooklyn: a tender, lush masterpiece. 

Award potential: Expect nominations for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actress. I’d love to see newcomer nominations for Best Director and Best Actor, but those seem unlikely, as does Julie Walters for Best Supporting Actress.

The ten buck review: Worth ten bucks.