By now I'm fairly certain that anybody who has ever studied a textbook, watched TV, or watched a movie has heard something about the Irish immigration to America, and in particular, to New York City. Brooklyn somehow manages to take that a step further and make us care about this story again, largely due to the efforts of Nick Hornby (screenwriter) and Saoirse Ronan (lead actress). Believe it or not, she is most definitely not Sansa Stark from Game of Thrones.

Let us begin. We have Eilis Lacey (Saoirse) who is under-employed in Ireland and willing to move to Brooklyn with help from her sister, Rose, and a pastor who is now in America. The first acts of the film are entirely devoted to this, she has a mentor on the ship, arrives in Brooklyn, and has a breakdown while suffering from homesickness and the New York winter. The costuming is really well done and I couldn't spot much that would take you out of this period piece. Perhaps the best part of the film up to this point, though, is the cinematography. Ireland is filmed with a very grey palette, without much color or excitement, and not much movement either. From New York on, however, things change.

(CONEY ISLAND IS FUN, YOU GUYS. THERE'S A FERRIS WHEEL AND WATER AND SHIT AND IRELAND DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING ON THIS BACK IN THE 1950s)

The Coney Island scene is a perfect example of this, you have the hustle and bustle of 1950s New Yorkers trying to enjoy their day, with colors that should take you back to childhood or to a vibrant, fun boardwalk. It's a stark contrast to Ireland, and also serves as a way of highlighting the opportunities and excitement available to to Eilis.

By now you may have (I hope you have) noticed (if you've been looking at the pictures) a man that is most certainly not James Franco in both of the pictures...which is unfortunate because my god does he have a similar voice. That's Tony. He's suave, but above all else he's filled with emotion and is the certainty to Eilis' controlled chaos. After meeting a dance at the local Irish dance-hall they begin seeing each other more often, by-passing the Irish-Italian tensions of the time (did I mention he's Italian?).

Everything is great until a certain life event causes Eilis to have to return to Ireland, which further strains her between her past and the comfort of home, and the uncertainty and challenges of New York. Visually, though, we see that she's changed as things are a bit brighter in the second Ireland acts scenes.

...apparently I only watch and review movies with Domnhall Gleeson in them...who is used a competing suitor to our Italian co-lead, Tony. However, things haven't completely changed in Ireland and Eilis finds herself back in America.

"Home is home." is the most-striking and simple line used in this film, and it describes it perfectly. To its core Brooklyn is a film about what home is, and it's instantly relatable to anyone who has moved across the country, left home for college, traveled abroad for an extended period time, or otherwise been far, far away from wherever home may be. At first inspection it seems like home is static and unending, anchored to where our memories and heart pulls us. But in the end, it turns out that home is where you make, and that's the true power of home. It could be a where you started, where you end up, or anywhere in between, and in the end home ends up being Brooklyn.