Sandy Kenyon movie review: 'Brooklyn'

NEW YORK (WABC) -- The new movie "Brooklyn", hitting the theaters this week, takes audiences inside the story of a young immigrant making her way in the 1950's.

The website Rotten Tomatoes monitors critics all over the world to determine a movie's score.

"Rotten" if less than half the reviews are favorable, "Fresh" if 50% or more are thumbs up.

"Brooklyn" is that rare film that scores 100%, meaning that every single critic in this survey likes it.

The best movies take us away to another time and place so completely we forget about everything except the story on-screen.

That's how I felt traveling from Ireland to "Brooklyn", with Saoirse Ronan back in the 1950's.

"Dear Rose, I miss you and mother and think about you every day. The most important news is that I have a job, and I'm in a boarding house," ahe writes in a letter to home in the film.

But she suffers from homesickness.

Turns out her character's feelings mirrored those of the star who made "Brooklyn" shortly after moving away from her parents home in Ireland.

"The journey that she takes was one I was going through," Ronan said.

Life and art merge and the result is a luminous performance, good enough to spark Oscar buzz for an actress who earned an Oscar nomination for "Atonement" when she was just 13 years old.

Having now turned 21, Ronan proves ready for adult roles and takes her place among the greats.

"I met someone. An Italian fella. We're goin' to Coney Island at the weekend," her character says in the movie.

Just when "Ailish" finds life and love here in the city, a tragedy draws her back home where she gets caught between two countries, and two fellas.

Will she stay or will she go? The choice is not clear-cut, which is just one of this movie's many charms.

This is a film that every New Yorker should see. It's a film that will leave you feeling better about the city and about life.

This won't be the last time you'll hear me talking about it either, because this lyrical piece of film magic will surely be among my ten favorite movies of this year.