Brooklyn

Brooklyn is a movie about the immigrant experience. It boasts really solid acting, a loving attention to the period and the world of the piece, and a well developed story.

All that being said, I found it just a touch underwhelming. It's like the kind of movie that would absolutely enchant you if you found it on TV on a rainy afternoon and you just snuggled in to be transported thru time for a little while. As unfair as it is for me to say so, I'm not sure it felt like it had quite enough going on to be an Oscar nominee.

I really don't want to knock a film for lacking a bear attack, or for failing to attempt to reinvent story telling. I don't think epic scenarios or revolutionary approaches to cinema are necessary for really great film making. Even so, the scope of Brooklyn was so quaint, it was hard to fully appreciate it in the context of all my Academy Award viewing.

My nagging doubts aside, Brooklyn excels best when providing you with well-rounded, fully-developed people in nearly all of its characters. Time is taken to show you both sides of any character, acknowledging that people who come and go in your life can be both a challenge and an ally, depending on the circumstances. We are encouraged time and again to look past our first impressions and let time and patience reveal what people, in even the smallest roles, may have to offer us.

But I don't see it winning.