A remarkably faithful adaptation of Colm Toibin’s excellent novel. It has most of the strengths of the book (courtesy of a fine and well-cast group of actors) and also its biggest weakness. Because what Eilis does when she returns to Ireland didn’t feel either right or true when I read the book and still feels both wrong and false when I watched the movie. It’s hard to decide if you want to give her a good sharp talking too because what she’s doing is so awful, or direct that sharp talking to Toibin because it feels so out of character and inexplicable. Yet it is a strength of both the novel and the movie that you care enough to be angry and annoyed. Lots of great scenes and a very fine romance. (Max)
We are not rational animals, we are animals that must work to be rational
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