Into a time when audiences are being bombarded with thinkfree technology or jiggled to death by indie indifference comes Brooklyn, a three Kleenex (boxes), straight-forwardly emotional little period melodrama about a timid (though not for long) young Irish immigrant (Saoirse Ronan) finding her way through 1950s New York. There are brief moments scattered all through Ronan’s magnetizing performance where director John Crowley wisely lets the camera run to capture the young actresses’ stunning array of sensitiveness. The relatively CG-free production design – Montreal proved a convincing alternative to shooting in the cost-prohibitive titular borough – and exquisitely ersatz Technicolor hues heave audiences back to a time when storytelling was built into the price of a ticket. If there’s fault to be found, it rests in the last-ditch revival of a throwaway character, ostensibly salvaged to uncover and make known our heroine’s one dark secret. (2015) — Scott Marks
This movie is not currently in theaters.