Philomena

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source: Philomena

PHILOMENA is an undoubtedly sentimental film, the tale of a quest by the eponymous heroine (Judi Dench) to discover what happened to her son, who had been taken away from her in the mid-Fifties by Irish nuns, and sold for adoption in the United States. Aided (or should that be abetted) by Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan) she begins her journey in England, travels to Ireland and the United States and returns to the convent where her son was originally given away. Stephen Frears' film has its serious points to make about the strictures of the Catholic Church, especially in days gone by, when its dedication to religion rode roughshod over people's feelings. There is a climactic scene involving an elderly nun (Barbara Jefford) that sums up this viewpoint. However the quest narrative is enlivened by two delightful central performances: Dench is alternately humorous, naive and highly moving as Philomena, while Coogan gives quite simply the best characterization I have ever seen from him during his career. He has always had the makings of a good serious actor; this film vindicates that promise. On the other hand the script has a fair share of good jokes at the British and American people's collective expense. Definitely worth watching,

Steve Coogan has said that Philomena is his reaction against cynicism - his attempt to make an honest and fundamentally sincere film. The biggest compliment that can be paid to him is that, in these goals, he has succeeded. It tells the story of Philomena Lee (Judi Dench, who is as brilliant as ever), an elderly Irish woman whose child was taken away from her 50 years ago by an austere Catholic convent. Martin Sixsmith (Coogan) is the cynical, know-it-all journalist turned government spin doctor, recently sacked, who is on the look out for a story. After a chance encounter at a party, Sixsmith reluctantly takes up the 'human interest' story of Philomena's search for her son, Anthony. The key to Philomena is the relationship between the titular character and Sixsmith. And it works. It really works, in fact. His cynicism, bordering on arrogance, is matched perfectly by her simple and completely sincere belief in common human decency. It could easily have been overly sentimental, but Judi Dench in particular does a remarkable job of keeping it grounded. There's some very dark stuff here, and it's a testament to the script that the film does not become overwhelmed by it. The Magdalene laundries were awful places, yet this story is not about revenge. I was almost cheering when, at the end, Sixsmith gives one particularly odious nun a piece of his mind. But moments later Philomena accosts him and gives me a slap on the wrist. She does not want revenge or angry confrontation. She just wants the truth. It's a remarkable act of forgiveness, and one that, like Sixsmith, I could not agree with. But then, I'm just another cynical and bitter atheist. I have to say, this film made me angry at myself for being one. And yet it also made me pleased I wasn't a Catholic. Go figure. Philomena is an incredible and heartfelt story. It's desperately sad, yet never overly sentimental. There's some genuinely funny moments, mainly emanating from the contrast between the wide-eyed and refreshing simplicity of Philomena's world view and the weary wryness of Sixsmith. If you get a chance, see it.

The movie equivalent of a limp handshake. Judi Dench stars in this pedestrian adaptation of a memoir about a woman whose child was taken from her by Catholic nuns when she was young and the journalist who helps her track him down many years later. It's a little bit of a road trip film crossed with a little bit of the Lifetime channel, with some jabs at the rigidity of religious belief thrown in for good measure. Dench hits her marks, and Steve Coogan, who plays the journalist and also wrote and produced the film, is very good as well. But the film has none of the electricity and zip that defined Stephen Frears' last Oscar contender, "The Queen." Grade: B

The problem I have with a lot of trailers these days is that the movie tends to get given away in those measly three minutes. Not as much fun taking a trip to the cinema when you already know how it's going to end. Granted, most films these days are predictable anyway, but some level of mystery is always nice. Annoyingly, there's very little mystery in the trailer of Philomena; the entire movie is summed up with three simple words: human interest story. Let's be fair, though. When you've got Stephen Frears, Judi Dench and Coogan working on the same film together, it would be ridiculous to expect anything else. Philomena is an out-and-out human interest story, seeped in sentimentality and designed purely to tug at the heartstrings and send the audience home with a smile on their face and a tear in their eye. And, for the most part, it's relatively successful. It's difficult not to be moved by the story of Philomena Lee (Dench), the middle-aged woman searching for the son taken away from her because she was pregnant out of wedlock. It's an emotional story, requiring the sort of emotional performance that someone like Judi Dench is brilliant at giving. She doesn't disappoint, either, obviously. Able to move between melancholy and humour seamlessly, Dench is a joy to watch. Her comic timing has always been impeccable, and she gets ample opportunity to showcase that here. But there's a slight problem – everyone else in the film is just a little bit too boring. Coogan's the main disappointment. I really like him, and think that he's still under-appreciated as a serious actor. Philomena, though, isn't his greatest showcase. It's not that he's bad in it, because he's not; he's actually quite good. It's the character of journalist Martin Sixsmith which lets him down – Coogan does the best he can, but it's so utterly one-dimensional. The character doesn't really change much over the course of the film, beyond evolving from 'caring a little bit' to 'caring quite a bit'. Hardly the stuff of scripting genius. The writing as a whole is pretty average and, funnily enough, Coogan was responsible for that too. It has its moments (the jokes are good, as you'd expect from a Coogan script), but it relies on overdone cliché and sentiment instead of trying something new. Again, it's not awful. It's just...okay. I didn't find myself emotionally engaged enough, though it does pick up in the final third. The climax of the movie is genuinely moving, and the sweet little twist at the end was just good enough to leave me satisfied. Philomena is, by and large, a good film. A great story, a fantastic central performance, and an ending which does bring that smile and that tear. I only wish that the rest of the film was more emotionally engaging, and the rest of the cast better-developed. Jim Loach's Oranges And Sunshine explores very similar themes, and is a far better watch, in my opinion. But, hey, it doesn't have Alan Partridge and M in that.

The abuses of the Church through the Magdalene Sisters is in the background of this exciting film that features Judy Dench as a mother searching for the son that was taken from here 50 years previously. She is paired with Steve Coogan, a sacked journalist after a human interest story. They made a strange pair as they journeyed to America to find her son. Prejudice and misunderstandings prevented the two from being reunited, but the story was fascinating and surprising. I even enjoyed seeing Anna Maxwell Martin from Bletchley Circle. What a thrill.