Sweet little love story of an Irish lass who comes to America circa 1950. She leaves her home in Enniscorthy (Co. Wexford) and comes to seek fame and fortune - and maybe a 'fella' - in Brooklyn. Subsequent events draw her back to Enniscorthy, and then back to Brooklyn. In between we come to know Eilis (pronounced Ailish) Lacey (Saoirse Ronan) quite well because it is her picture, and she is in nearly every scene. She changes from a homesick immigrant to a self-assured woman in the course of the picture, and Ronan's characterization is terrific. Along the way she meets Tony Fiorello, played by Emory Cohen in a role apparently underplayed so as not to upstage the main character. He comes from a big Italian family but is not a stereotypical Italian; he is barely audible and very subdued. Perhaps the best and most humorous scenes take place at dinnertime in Mrs. Kehoe's boarding house for Irish immigrant girls. Played by Julie Walters, she rides herd on her catty boarders and uses religious metaphors to put them in their place.

Starring:

Saoirse Ronan, Hugh Gormley, Brid Brennan, Jim Broadbent, Maeve McGrath, Emma Lowe, Barbara Drennan, Gillian McCarthy, Fiona Glascott, Jane Brennan, Eileen O'Higgins, Peter Campion, Eva Birthistle, James Corscadden, Julie Walters

Genre:

Drama, Romance