Review: Ronan gives one of the best performances of the year in the very powerful ‘Brooklyn’

Posted on December 11, 2015

By MARK VIOLA

Although I first saw actress Saoirse Ronan in 2008’s “City of Ember,” I really took notice of her acting talent in Peter Jackson’s “The Lovely Bones,” and even more so in 2011’s teenage assassin action film “Hanna,” directed by Joe Wright, who also directed “Atonement,” for which Ronan earned an Academy Award nomination at the advanced age of 13.

Of her other work, I’ve also seen “The Way Back” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” both films only confirming my view that she is one of the best young actresses working today even if she doesn’t get the same amount of press coverage as some of her peers.

Her latest film is “Brooklyn,” a period character drama and romance in which Ronan plays an Irish immigrant who travels from her small hometown to Brooklyn hoping for a better life and a piece of the American dream. Although I had admittedly not seen Ronan’s Oscar nominated work in “Atonement,” her performance in “Brooklyn” is easily the best I have seen from her and one of the best overall performances of 2015.

Coupled with sure-handed direction from John Crowley (“Closed Circuit,” “Boy A”) and a script from Nick Hornsby (“An Education,” “Wild”) based on Colm Tóibín’s best selling novel, “Brooklyn” is a powerful film and one that will almost surely find its place on my Top 10 of the year.

(This is a abbreviated version of the full review available in our printed or e-edition papers.)

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