Both my friend and I left the movie…Brooklyn…thinking it was pleasant but not much depth. We both have not read the book and thought the book must be so much richer that I decided to read it. After reading the reviews I changed my mind.
SPOILER BROOKLYN
A major theme of the book that didn’t come through as much in the movie concerned Eilis’s lack of agency. She let other people make decisions for her and the decisions she did make were driven by shame or by the need to escape rather than making positive choices. It leads her to act irrationally. A big theme is how people make irrational decisions for irrational reasons but things nonetheless turn out okay.
I read the book when it first came out more than 6 years ago so I may be misremembering …
But if I recall correctly, in the book, she wasn’t really in love with Tony; instead, it was a relationship of convenience that ameliorated loneliness and provided a possible path out of the boarding house, which in the book was a much more miserable place. Eilis is convinced the landlady knows she slept with Tony and believes that she is gossiping with the priest about her. There’s a lot of passive aggressiveness around this, and it might be the driver behind why she allows herself to be pressured into the City Hall wedding, even though she doesn’t really want to marry Tony.
When she returns to Iteland, she falls deeply in love with Jim and totally puts her head in the sand about her wedding. Instead of making the rational decision to stay in Ireland and to take positive steps to straighten things out by divorcing Tony, she flees in shame after the lady from the store insinuates that she knows something about Eilis and Tony.
Eilis’s character is consistent throughout the book. She is buffeted about by other people’s decisions and never takes positive action on her own behalf. She’s frustratingly passive.
I forget how we know, but there’s the strong sense in the book that everything works out okay with Tony when she returns to America, even though that is not the choice she would have made if she were acting with agency.
I really loved the book, and disagree with the views above about the sex scenes.
Thanks for that info, nottelling. Knowing all that explains a lot of what was hinted at in the movie.
I’ve only seen The Martian. Seen it once in the theater and twice on flights. As a science nerd, I couldn’t get enough og it. 
Thanks, @nottelling . That’s really interesting. I think, in the timeless tradition of Hollywood, the movie took a meaningfully different tack. I thought in the movie Eilis lacked agency in Ireland – both before she left for America and, disturbingly, after she came back – but she achieved a kind of hard-won agency in New York. In the movie, it’s clear that at first Tony is just a salve for loneliness, and that whatever relationship there is, is all on his side. But when Eilis thinks she’s lost him, she decides that she wants to keep him, and she haltingly does something about it. From that point on, she gains confidence, and begins to make actual choices. But when she returns to Ireland, she slips back into filling roles that others impose on her. You have a sense that she likes Jim, and is pleasantly surprised at what an interesting person he is, but the movie certainly doesn’t give a sense that she’s in love with Jim so much as thrilled at the prospect that the dreams which had seemed impossible to achieve in Ireland might be possible there after all.
We just got home from seeing The Revenant. Whoa. I was clutching my face, and my neck, and peeking through my fingers covering my eyes, and sitting on the edge of my seat. It was intense, beautifully filmed, well acted. I’m glad I went - it is a really great movie.
I saw The Revenant yesterday. I really enjoyed it - I didn’t think the violence and gore people are so concerned with was that awful.
Interstellar was SO much better than The Martian, IMO.
Interstellar was I thought one of the worst sci-fi movies I have ever seen. (And I’ve seen a lot.) So many times when I just didn’t believe the story. No one notices rockets going up from this top secret program? The scientist touch foreign substances? No one notices that the planet has big waves? They need a Saturn V rocket to escape earth’s gravity, but have apparently using a shuttle from the surface of a planet with 130 percent of earth’s gravity is not an issue. Clunky dialog, annoying characters. I’ve never tried so hard to suspend my disbelief. It was pretty though.
We saw Bridge of Spies last night and enjoyed it a lot.
Yes, I thought Bridge of Spies was very well done and helped transport you to the era. Hanks was very believable to me, as was his client.
I thought Mark Rylance was fabulous. Amusingly the last time I’d seen him was playing Olivia in Twelfth Night sp it came as a complete surprise to me when his name rolled around in the credits. (Though I think I’d seen his name mentioned in reviews.)
^^^^I liked him in Bridge of Spies too. Going to see him next Saturday.
“Yes, I thought Bridge of Spies was very well done and helped transport you to the era. Hanks was very believable to me, as was his client”
I really liked that it was based on a true story. It made it that much more interesting and compelling.
The Russian spy reminded me so much of my grandfather, when he was younger. He sounded like, and would have said very similar things. Though my grandfather was Finnish, and not a spy! I think…
DH and I have seen all but Room and Brooklyn. I’m not sure how Mad Max made it to this list- it was entertaining but not award worthy. I’m surprised how many here refuse to see The Revenant. Yes it is bloody and violent but I suspect it may somewhat reflect life in that period and area. The filming techniques were amazing, the scenery gorgeous, the acting superb. The plot was a little beyond belief at times for sure, but after all, it is titled The Revenant. I loved it.
^^I can’t see refusing to see the Revenant. However, if one is disgusted by particularly graphic, and bloody scenes, they might have a tough time watching it. It was easier for us, since we went to a theatre that served good wine and food. I could sit through anything at this place.
I thought it was compelling, and unbelievable how people might have suffered at the time. However, not everyone likes to sit through horrific human suffering. Glad I saw it, but I can’t imagine that this is the type of movie that one sees repetitively. It has a very simple plot, and not much depth. You get it all the first time. I won’t go to movies that show women or children being graphically raped or abused, but you don’t really see that here.
One thing bugged me about Bridge of Spies - not exactly a SPOILER but I’ll scroll down…
He is in Berlin. It’s very cold, snowy, and his coat is taken from him. A few days later he is home (Boston? NY?) and it is sunny and all the trees are green like it’s summer! A bit too much artistic license there.
^Yes that bothered us too.
Just saw Revenant. I was expecting (and dreading) more gore–perhaps because none of it was imo gratuitous it did not live up to my fears. Though I was obstructing parts of the screen during the bear attack scene. It’s a tremendous movie, but seeing it once is enough. Though I’d sooner see Revenant again than see Son of Saul again, the brilliant foreign film about sonderkommando at Auschwitz.
We’ve seen all the best picture nominees except Room, so that’s next on the list along with Straight Outta Compton because that’s the only screenplay nominee we’ve not seen. For anyone else who also loved Mad Max Fury Road, this: https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/wp/2016/01/14/an-unbiased-look-at-the-best-picture-nominees-of-2016/ 
I read an interesting article about the physics behind Interstellar (http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/parsing-the-science-of-interstellar-with-physicist-kip-thorne/).
The Martian was a Gravity retread with predictable outcome, although more interesting on the whole than Gravity (which I hated).
Just saw The Revenant today and loved it. I thought the acting was great (Leonardo, Hardy, Poulter, Gleeson in particular). The cinematography was great. I really do hope Leo wins this time.