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Philomena

Philomena | Stephen Frears | November 27, 2013

A mother will go to great lengths when it comes to their children. Imagine if a mother had her child taken from her over 50 years ago and hadn’t been able to see him since?

This is the true story of Philomena Lee, and it has been shared with the world through Martin Sixsmith’s story, The Lost Child Of Philomena Lee. It tells the tale of when Martin Sixsmith accompanied Lee on her journey to America to try and help her figure out what happened to her son, who she had taken away from her 50 years ago. The story has been brought to the screen by director Stephen Frears, and it’s a real winner.

When Philomena (Judi Dench) was a young girl, she had given birth to her son Anthony at an Irish convent. As a punishment for her un-Christian childbirth, the nuns there forced her to sign away her parental rights to her son, who is later sold by them to be adopted in America. 50 years later and she never was able to find out what happened to him. It’s not until she meets Martin Sixsmtih (Steve Coogan), that she has her first real chance to find her son. You see, Martin has just been sacked from his job as a political adviser and is at a loss as to what to do with himself. When he discovers Philomena’s story by a chance encounter with her daughter at a party, he sees the potential in this story as a chance to get his career back.

Seeing Philomena and Sixsmith as travel companions is an odd match, but one made in heaven. At first there’s an awkward business first layer to their relationship. Philomena is a kindhearted old woman who just wants to find her son.  Martin has editors to please and just wants to get his story completed, happy ending, or sad.

Slowly their time spent together allows them to peel away all these layers and become close companions. Eventually they’re able to bond and soon enough begin acting more like friends on a (not so) traditional road trip.

As the two characters come closer together, we feel the same away about our connection to them as an audience. With every step they take, we become more emotionally involved. This movie is built around the heartwarming performances from Dench and Coogan, who are both at the top of their games here with unbreakable chemistry at work. This is easily my favorite performance from Coogan to date (who usually does comedic work, not dramatic), and Dench, well, she’s always just great, isn’t she? She may have some Award nominations headed her way. The script, which Coogan co-write with Jeff Pope is strong enough to help anchor the two actors so they can perform their magic.

I shouldn’t be surprised with my enjoyment of Philomena, but it really did take me by surprise. From beginning to end, you hand over your emotions to the movie and it does quite a number on you during this moving journey. There’s a lot of heart here, but there’s also plenty of comedy at play, which is expected from Coogan. This is the type of movie that will have you laughing, crying, and feeling a bit of warm joy by its completion. It touches on a wide variety of themes, such as religion, right vs. wrong, and forgiveness. Everyone will find a bit of themselves somewhere in this film, and that’s why it’s so effective. It’s a family crowd-pleaser, for sure.

I don’t know how much buzz Philomena has right now, and I can’t predict if it will move those pesky Oscar voters in the same way. But it has the power to be a a potential dark horse sleeper come announcement morning, and I think it would be every bit deserving if that’s what happened. Philomena is a true winner in every sense of the word, and surprisingly became one of the better films that you’ll find released this year.

Rating: 8.5/10


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