Good questions PMG. Happy New Year to you as well.
I'm not certain, but I happened to think when I read your post that my brother claimed the dollars in the film were new ones and not vintage 1950's. Who notices stuff like that?
I'm more caught up in the emotional current when I watch the film.
In any event, the reactions and reviews have been so amazing I'm determined not to lose the thread. In it, you'll find reviews from bloggers who aren't on RT but say incredible things about her. I'm also so looking forward to what's ahead.

This message has been deleted.

Couple of nice tweets.
Dave Algonquin @the_real_matt_m 26 Dec 2016
Folks, we finished Brooklyn over an hour ago and I'm still buzzing. That was pure, unadulterated movie magic. Saoirse Ronan is a star.
Dave Algonquin @the_real_matt_m 26 Dec 2016
I am finally watching Brooklyn and this movie is a goddamn heartwarming delight. Saoirse Ronan is so pitch perfect in this.

Nice tweet.
Nina Concepcin @ninamconcepcion 2h2 hours ago
I think Saoirse Ronan is the best actress of her generation because she just made me cry about 5 times while watching this movie.

New tweets from today.
RafaRena ire @RafaNadal_Ire 2h2 hours ago
Brooklyn is one of the most powerful films ever made, but is so subtle at the same time. I could re watch Saoirse Ronan in this film forever
Bear Swift @Writer_Bear 3h3 hours ago
Finally got round to watching #Brooklyn. #saoirseronan is a freaking power house.

Excellent idea. I'm hoping it doesn't become a read only thread. I'd like to check out some of the great reviews from time to time. There are plenty from bloggers that are not to be found on RT.

This message has been deleted.

Good article PMG.

This message has been deleted.

Don't want to lose this thread.
Brooklyn (From: Dear Cast and Crew)
By Tim McEown
Mailed on February 04, 2016
Stamp image Air
Mail
Dear Nick Hornby
Writer
Dear Nick,
What I find compelling about the films youre involved with is their lucid portrayal of a particular species of love. In High Fidelity, About A Boy, Wild, and now Brooklyn, love is depicted as an effort to pay attention, and to understand without judgment. In the worlds you create, love is about seeing the person in front of you, and accepting that theyre probably as flawed a creature as you.
This is something John Cusaks Rob Gordon is slow to learn in High Fidelity, and Hugh Grants Will Freeman is perhaps even slower to comprehend in About A Boy. It is a truth that evades Reese Witherspoons Cherylespecially when it comes to herselffor almost the entirety of Wild. But in Brooklyn, this truth seems to be integral to Saoirse (sounds like inertia) Ronans Eilis from birth. Consequently, the film is far more concerned with the impediments that life throws in front of all of usin our search for love and belongingthan any kind of interior journey.
Set in the early 1950s, Brooklyn is very much Eiliss story. We follow her from her native Ireland, where she is completely unfulfilled, to Brooklyn, New Yorkand what is essentially a halfway house for young, unmarried women. There she is shepherded by an Irish priestplayed benevolently by Jim Broadbent in a role he could have sleepwalked through, but didntuntil she finds employment in a Macys-like department store.
The rest of the film concerns itself with Eilis and her new lifethe ups and downs, ins and outs of a young women discovering how the world operates. In many ways, this film is boilerplate in its plot construction, but it is never hackneyed. This is due to the restrained tone (there is never a scene that feels heightened or contrived), uniformly strong performances and the superb attention to detail in the costume and set design.
However, what really makes Brooklyn special is Ronan and her tremendous presence. She is a remarkable actress and entirely too self possessed for someone so young. So many moments in this film are carried by a simple gesture or a subtle tell in Ronans demeanor. Couple this rare ability with her talent for infusing dialogue with a quiet veracity, and Ronans performance becomes something special to watch.
While Eiliss burgeoning love life is what drives the plot, it is the small, idiosyncratic details that you include that help differentiate this film from a thousand others. The most entertaining of which is Mrs. Keoghthe tyrannical matriarch of the boarding houseportrayed in a marvelously cranky turn by Julie Waters. She is a both a character and the same time a fully realized human being a feat of writing that is vanishingly rare in any medium. As a result of this kind of nuanced work, moments that could have been heavy handed or overt are given a gentle twist that feels authentic and emotionally honest in a way that you dont often see, especially in major studio releases. Add to that the absolute fidelity of the visuals to a particular time and placethis is Brooklyn in the early fiftiesand you have a film that is far more than the sum of its trailers.
Also, the sharp casting choice of her two suitorsEmory Cohen as Tony and Domhnall Gleeson as Jimis just another feature in a long list that helps elevate Brooklyn far above the Madding Crowd.
It is perhaps surprising to some that Brooklyn is nominated for an Oscar in the Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actress categories. In many ways this is a small, intimate film without much in the way of overt fireworks. But the craft at work, the script you produced, and the memorable character that Ronan creates in Eilis, make this a special film.
All things considered, Brooklyn is eminently worthy of the kind of recognition it is receiving and a fine addition to an already impressive body of work. Good luck on Oscar night, Nick.
Sincerely,
Tim
http://tinyurl.com/hqc873a

Yes, so many great moments in this film. The scene on Long Island, talking about where the houses will be built - it felt like it came from a John Ford Western.
. . . The Bones tell me nothing.

One of my favorite parts of Brooklyn is that extended close-up at the Irish dance (the one in Ireland, not the one in Brooklyn). It's the sort of extended close-up that can register as a stunt - sort of look what a great actor I am. I won't mention a couple of actors/actresses who come off that way. Saoirse lives in that close-up in a completely natural way. She's the real deal and then some.

I received my copy of Brooklyn on Friday (one day late for St. Patrick day) but watched today Sunday. I only saw the movie once in the cinema and really enjoyed my 2nd viewing. What a perfect movie 27 up 27 down no runs, hits, or errors.
Sorry can't help but throw a sports reference in my posts. Blu-Ray extras did not disappoint either.

Oh yeah, instant. This was my sixth viewing and still not an ounce of fatigue setting in.
I like how Crowley would explain Saoirse's appeal using the particulars of a scene she was in as we are watching the scene.

That's good info jlent. I bought the Blu-Ray on the 15th and will take the time to look at the film and the extras when my company leaves. Lovely beach.
I'm of the firm belief Brooklyn is an instant classic that'll hold up over time. If you put aside the opinions here, just remember many of the most respected film critics including those in the U.K. loved the film.

The Blu-Ray and DVD are out. Eleven deleted scenes. I particularly like one that highlights racial issues when Dorothy (the store worker Eillis meets her first day on the job in the store lockers) objects to selling nylons designed for5b4 black customers. It might have been a little jarring to insert it in the middle of story. You can see the tale end of it as Eillis is putting up boxes of the nylons and Miss Fortini comes in with Father Flood who has the news of Rose's death.
But get the DVD, it has a wonderful commentary from director Crowley that focuses on the making of the film, what he was after, and discussion of Saoirse's performance. One nice tidbit I learned: The Irish beach Eilis, Jim, Nancy and Nancy's beau go swimming in was the same beach Stephen Spielberg used for the D-Day sequence in Saving Private Ryan.

It's been so long (January 2015) since Brooklyn had its very first official screening to a general audience at Sundance. I believe the very first tweet I read that evening right after the conclusion of the screening was from Ramin Setoodeh, a man who was then the New York editor of films for Variety. He was promoted a few months ago.
It was a great night because in one of his tweets, he said Saoirse would be going back to the Kodak Theater for her performance.
That same evening, the other tweets were just over the moon about the film and her in particular. It was off to the races!
Here we are now over a year later. Below are just a few recent tweets about the film:
Connor Land @ConnorLand2 1h1 hour ago
Just saw the movie Brooklyn, and it is now one of my all-time favorites. Saoirse Ronan. What a heavyweight.
Leslie beep 3h3 hours ago
Wow. Saoirse Ronan is INCREDIBLE. Brooklyn was the second movie of hers I have watched and I am blown away. What a film.

This is from a South Jersey paper part of The USA Today network. I'm posting it because I think the title is kind of lovely and true.
Saoirse Ronan fulfills promise in da0'Brooklyn'
AMY LONGSDORF, For the Courier-Post 12:03 a.m. EDT March 15, 2016
Brooklyn (2015, Fox, PG-13, $30) Irish actress Saoirse Ronan fulfills the promise of her early work in Atonement and Hanna with this lovely look at a young woman who emigrates from Ireland to New York in the 1950s. No sooner does Eilis Lacey settle into her new life, which includes a romance with an Italian-American plumber (Emory Cohen), than a family tragedy calls her back home. Its immensely moving to watch Eilis struggle with homesickness and heartbreak on her journey to adulthood. Blessed with on-target turns by veterans Julie Walters and Jim Broadbent, Brooklyn works as both a coming-of-age drama and an old-fashioned romance.
Extras: featurettes.

BTW, thanks for that link. I've never read the script.

Nice review PMG.

This message has been deleted.

This message has been deleted.

Norwich Cinema: 'Brooklyn' a spellbi5b4nding vision of love, longing
"Brooklyn" actress Saoirse Ronan delivers as astonishing performance in this tale of love."Brooklyn" actress Saoirse Ronan delivers as astonishing performance in this tale of love.
By Jason Sheldon For The Bulletin
Posted Mar. 9, 2016 at 5:10 PM
Norwich Community Cinema's film for March is "Brooklyn," a beautifully rendered romantic drama set in the New York City borough and Southeast Ireland of the early 1950s.
The movie follows Eilis Lacey, played with subtlety and nuance by Saoirse Ronan, a young woman who travels to America for work and education until she finds herself drawn back to her hometown in Ireland.
Throughout the course of her time on both continents, she falls in love with two men, finding herself torn not only in her heart, but by the paths and opportunities that accompany her choices on opposite sides of the ocean.
Ronan is entrancing in her portrayal of Eilis, with many long takes lingering on her delicate features, which express a number of competing emotions, conveying the complexity of her character's feelings and displaying
her prowess as a gifted actress.
Attending a dance early in the film just before her imminent departure for the United States, she looks nostalgic and pained for what she's leaving behind while equally hopeful and determined to tackle the challenges that await her, all in the span of2000 a few cinematic seconds.
Though the landscapes, textiles and architecture of the film are gorgeously detailed, it is Ronan's balance of modest and impassioned presentation of Eilis that truly charms us and charges the film with sensitivity and sensibility.
Brooklyn was nominated for Best Picture, Best Leading Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay at the 2016 Academy Awards.
Though it failed to win an Oscar, its acclaim and status as a contender is well-deserved.
There will be baked goods and drinks for purchase as well as bottomless $2 popcorn. You are always welcome to bring your own food and beverages.
We invite you for a relaxing evening to enjoy the striking images and arresting performances as you allow yourself to be absorbed in Eilis's transformative journey in the comfort of our theater.
http://tinyurl.com/zbwsmuw

Here is an excerpt from Rob Samuelson of The Sun Times Network written today:
The performances are all excellent, but Saoirse Ronan stands out. She earned a nomination for Actress in a Leading Role for a reason. Hers is a subtle but noticeable physical transformation that dovetails with Eilis internal journey. She begins Eilis American lb68ife by taking small, unsure steps, keeping her head down and hoping not to get in anyones way. She doesnt know what to do with her life, but as she finds her aptitude in night school to become a bookkeeper, she begins to look forward more often.
She makes direct eye contact when talking with people. She learns what she wants and she begins to understand how to get it. The movie is, in part, a grandiose coming-of-age story, but its subtler, more graceful elements, as portrayed by Ronan in particular, are what separate it from other tales of this variety.
For the entire piece:
http://national.suntimes.com/national-entertainment/7/72/2639066/oscars-watch-case-brooklyn/