Chris here. We're pleased as punch with all of the precursor love that's greeted Saoirse Ronan's timeless star turn in Brooklyn. Today though, in light of SAG's virtually female-free Outstanding Ensemble list, let's give some love to this film's unnominated but vibrant ensemble.
Yes, Saoirse Ronan is getting the majority of the prizes and praises for the film - heck, she could share an ensemble prize for the film with just herself and her multitude of emotions in the film and you'd have no complaints from me. However, Eilis's journey in the film is more fully realized with the lived-in actors that surround Ronan's protagonist.
THE FAMILIAR FACES
- Emory Cohen as Tony Fiorello - I'll join those who were happily surprised with his performance, after ghastly work in The Place Beyond the Pines and elsewhere. Not just a pining lothario, he's also believably accepting of Eilis's need to be her own woman. Dreamboat of the Year.
- Domnhall Gleeson as Jim Farrell - A much more bland love interest to Eilis, but intentionally so. He really sells Jim's uncomplicated ambitions
- Julie Walters as Mrs. Kehoe - Archly hilarious as the matron of Eilis's boarding house for girls. She'd be a Supporting Actress contender if it weren't for competition with more screen time and *ahem* narrative focus
- Jim Broadbent as Father Flood - As charming as ever in a tiny role
And here's where it get's really good after the jump...
THE BROOKLYNITES
- Eve Macklin as Diana & Emily Bett Richards as Patty - Charming partners in crime yet not simplistic twins with the same brain. Don't you wish you had galpals like them to help you with your love life?
- Jessica Pare as Miss Fortini - You can't handle this glamour! Yes she's tough on Eilis but who cares when she wears the same simple black costume in every damn scene and is still the most sublime fashion presence in the film!
- Jenn Murray as Dolores - Oh this poor, dear thing. Murray sells her naivete as both annoying and hilarious, making you adore her as you agree with the girls' abhorence of her
- James DiGiacomo as Frankie Fiorello - You've seen the trailer? Great, you've seen the performance! But he still gets the biggest laughs and the most immediate love from the audience
- Eva Birthistle as Georgina - Who would Eilis have become without her example? Once Eilis's journey mirrors Georgina's, don't you crave to know what became of her?
BACK IN IRELAND
- Jane Brennan as Mary Lacy - Gracfully modulating her grief and forceful expectations upon Eilis, her face just breaks your heart
- Fiona Glascott as Rose Lacy - Conveying a life's worth of hope and sacrifice in a single goodbye, we sense her deep love of Eilis without saying a word
- Brid Brennan as Miss Kelly - The embodiment of all that is purely evil in this world - but we see the life of pain and disappointment that has turned her so cruel
- Eileen O'Higgins as Nancy - A perfect counterpoint to the boarding-house girls, her enthusiasm not diminished by her lack of wordliness. In her own way, she's grown up too while Eilis was away.
Director John Crowley hasn't been given enough credit for drawing together a massive ensemble of performers that create such a richly lived-in world. Even the smallest of bit players not listed here are fully-embodied human beings suggesting a life capable of carrying their own film. Eilis's story is one among similar millions starting over in a new country and creating a new life; Crowley gives us that context by making his ensemble as lively as his star.