FILM-MAKERS don't seem to trust romance, by which I mean pure, undiluted romantic stories. They usually feel the need to mix up romance with comedy, as though they assume we'll be just too self-conscious to succumb to our more sentimental emotions, without making fun of the characters first.

That's why, when an out-and-out, no-nonsense love story comes along, people notice. It was the case with The Notebook, which made a star of an atypical romantic lead, Ryan Gosling; or the Before Sunrise/Sunset movies, in which Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy walk and talk endlessly about love; or Lost In Translation, which despite being cross-generational and platonic, is one of the most romantic films of recent years.

And so to Brooklyn, based on Colm Tóibín's novel, which could be described as a coming-of-age story, or an immigrant fable, but which at its core is a love triangle between three equally worthy young people, one of whom must lose out; with that decision not forced by melodrama or tragedy or comic chance, but made by the heart. I'm not convinced that the film is going to have everyone sobbing in the aisles, but it's well made and utterly charming.

Saoirse Ronan is Eilis, a young woman struggling to find work in the Irish town of Enniscorthy (Tóibín's own hometown) and with nothing in the way of prospects other than the local rugby players on parade each week at the local dance. So when her older sister Rose (Fiona Glascott) opens an opportunity for her in New York, via a friendly priest there, it's hard to say no. With tears and trepidation, Eilis sets sail.

Her destination is Brooklyn, the boarding house of the strict but supportive Mrs Kehoe (Julie Walters) and a job in a department store. She'll overcome homesickness, find her feet, and meet an Italian-American plumber, Tony (Emory Cohen), the soppiest male lead I've seen in years. Just as she starts to think herself acclimatised, family news will take her back to Ireland, where the attentions of a new man Jim Farrell (Domhnall Gleeson) throw a spanner in the works.

Following the lead of Tóibín's understated prose, Nick Hornby's adaptation is crisp, straightforward and preternaturally good-natured. The focus is Eilis’s growing maturity, which is accompanied by love, sexual experience and growing professional self-respect – all pointing towards the new woman with two decisions to make that are bound up in each other, regarding where to live, and who to love.

Ronan has remained faultlessly impressive since her break-out performance, when barely a teenager, in 2007’s Atonement. Her work showing Eilis's development is wonderfully nuanced and believable; when faced with her romantic dilemma, it's impossible to know which way she’ll turn (unless you’ve read the book), just as the character herself has no idea until the moment she does it. It's very hard to pull that off.

While Ronan carries the film, she has great comic support from Walters and the other occupants of the boarding house, and Jim Broadbent lends a benevolent presence as the kindly Father Flood. Cohen and Gleeson are good, though for me the most touching relationship of the film is the sibling one between Eilis and Rose.Director John Crowley and his production team create a captivating 1950s milieu. I like the sense we're given of New York growing as a place, along with its people. And while there's something a bit too neat about Eilis’s immigrant experience, it’s balanced by the lovely scene involving Father Flood’s flock, the Irishmen who once built the city’s tunnels, bridges and highways, now destitute and forgotten and dreaming of home.

Also released:

Burnt (12A)

Bradley Cooper stars as a bad-boy celebrity chef, with Michelin stars and attitude to match, who arrives in London after years in rehab wilderness with plans for a comeback. As in real life, the kitchen histrionics are ridiculous and the pretension astounding, and so the hero is hard to take seriously. At least the food looks great, and Emma Thompson is on hand to offer wry perspective. “I didn’t get my third star,” he moans. “And yet you’re still alive.”

Kill Your Friends (18)

Adaptation of Scottish author John Niven’s satire of the music business circa Britpop, with Nicholas Hoult as the A&R man with little liking for music, yet prepared to do anything to further his career. Niven wrote the screenplay himself, but whatever the attributes of the novel, this feels unoriginal, unfunny and crass.

He Named Me Malala (PG)

Documentary concerning the remarkable Pakistani schoolgirl and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, Malala Yousafzai, who was shot by the Taliban for daring to speak out for girls' education in her country.

Scout’s Guide To The Zombie Apocalypse (15)

Horror comedy in which some boy scouts defend a town against zombies. Is there a badge for that?