Philomena (2013)

Very well executed

Touches You

It is a performances centric movie

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

In the opening scenes of "Philomena", the audience witnesses a sweet old lady by the same name narrate to a well-wisher that she just got a hip replacement in a glorious Irish accent. At first glance, Philomena appears to be a normal old lady but she has kept a rather large secret buried within her for most of her life. She is seen lighting a Catholic candle at a church for an undisclosed person. Through a series of clever flashbacks, it is revealed that the person Philomena is lighting a candle for is her son. Philomena, like many naïve young girls, got pregnant by accident as a teenager in the 50's. Her son was taken from her by the nunnery in which she resided and he was sent to America. All she had left to remember him by was a picture taken as a toddler. She couldn't help but long to see her son and wonder if he ever thought of his birthplace of Ireland.Martin Sixsmith then enters the picture. Martin is an arrogant writer who had somehow managed to quickly rise through the ranks of politics and is dismissed just as fast. Seeking to get his mind of his political career, Martin seeks out a story and ends up encountering Philomena and agreeing to help her find her long lost son. He goes back with Philomena to the nunnery she was raised in. As the main characters observe the ages on the tombstones, they can't help but notice that the majority of the graves were for young women, some as young as 14. They all died in childbirth."'Philomena" will easily be remembered as one of the most powerful films of 2013. The movie is a clever presentation of the complex nature between religion and class as well as social pressure. Martin attempts to confront the nun responsible for taking away Philomena's son. This same woman refused to provide proper medical care to pregnant girls to punish them for their perceived sin. She also intentionally separated countless other families and loved ones and did everything in her power to keep these people apart during her lifetime. While the old religious lady versus the young atheist is cliché, in this movie it is tastefully done. Martin fights the nun and the system that takes children away from their mothers the only way a writer knows how: through writing.One must give credit to the acting performances of the two leads Judi Dench of James Bond royalty and Steve Coogan in the film. The remarkable chemistry between the two leads in the film helps the narrative progress in an entertaining manner without detracting from the raw power of the story. But suffice it to say, the twist at the end will leave you stunned. Philomena is a thoughtful and provocative film that is based on a true story. In 2009, the real-life Martin Sixsmith published "The Lost Child of Philomena Lee" in 2009. Thousands more adopted Irish children and their 'shamed' mothers are still trying to find each other. Philomena Lee today lives in the south of England with her other children and grandchildren. The film "Philomena" is about the old woman and Martin's quest to find her lost son.

This BBC film has everything I would want for a great movie. Martin Sixsmith's book is powerfully told. The screenplay is outstanding. The Direction by Stephen Frears is done at an excellent pace. Judi Dench and Steve Coogan make a power team as Philomena and Martin Sixsmith. The supporting cast is fine, but this film belongs too these main characters. Story is about a young teenager (Philomena played by Sophie Kennedy Clark) who has an erotic encounter with a young man, becomes pregnant and is taken in by a convent where she delivers a baby boy. The nuns, in 1952, were in the business of delivering single underage teenage girls babies and then selling them for adoption to rich folks (mostly Americans) in Scotland. The location settings for this in Northern Ireland, the UK, and the US make for many great settings as beckoned for the story. Baed upon a true story, Philomena, 50 years after having her baby, wants to find him after the nuns sold her little boy away from her over 50 years prior. Sixsmith, a former BBC reporter who has been fired, gets involved to try and help find Philomena's son. This takes them from Rocrea in Scotland, to the United States. While watching the first half of the movie, the viewer feels like she will, and there will be a happy ending.Then, she finds out her son is dead, and why. Actually Michael Sixsmith leads her to find out where her son is. Rocrea nunnery in Scotland is no help and is actually the ultimate road block to Philomena finding out where her son was and who he was sold too.The emotion of the story is raised by the process, very old fashioned, balanced against the group of folks wanting to learn who he really was. It is a story we can not put down and at slightly over 90 minutes does not let the viewer escape without touching moments in the film. It is all quite adorable really.

Philomena is a beautifully unpredictable mix of emotions that comes from combining great characters with a great story. The story tells of Philomena Lee (Judi Dench) an Irish woman who's son was taken from her by catholic nuns and sold to an American couple in the 1950's, and her struggle to find him with the help of journalist Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan). The mix of Sixsmith's disbelief In human decency with Philomena's trust and forgiveness forms the perfect friendship. Coogan and Dench were undoubtedly the perfect choices for these roles. Philomena is a tough yet stunning and poignant film that's thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end and is justifiably an award winning tale.

"Philomena" could be the typical movie that goes for the easy tear and that is cheesy and shallow (kind of like the books the main character seems to read on trips).But Stephen Frears does an amazing job in bringing to life and making us care and worry about Philomena's plight to find the son that was stolen from her. He takes a true and sad story charges it with a punch that will hit most of its viewers really hard.The story is simple. Philomena decides to tell that she had a son, and that she would like to find him. Her daughter meets fallen from grace journalist Martin Sixsmith, who becomes interested in the story. And Philomena and Martin go on a search that will bring a dark truth to light.Frears does a great job on not making this story a show against the Catholic church. He and Coogan and Pope adapting Sixmith's story, do a great job in making this the story of Philomena, of a woman who was robed of her son, and with this, of a part of herself. And Judi Dench is more than amazing as the main character. She is subtle, touching and says so much without having to make a speech or say something deep that even for her high standards, is a revelation. Her Philomena is a woman full of flaws that some people, when meeting, would look from over their shoulders, but then learn to respect her views and her believes. Coogan, as the posh Sixmith, does a great job (even if once or twice it seems he is going into comedic mode) too of showing the "educated" man that can't understand some of Philomena's decisions but that ends caring more about her than about the story. As said, this could be a little bit cheesy but Frears, the actors and the script don't let it become so.This is a great movie, touching, subtle and powerful. Totally worth checking out.