[Movie Review] Philomena (2013)

Posted on November 22, 2013 by thegrandshuckett in Movie Reviews // 0 Comments

Plot Summary: A world-weary political journalist picks up the story of a woman's search for her son, who was taken away from her decades ago after she became pregnant and was forced to live in a convent.

Director: Stephen Frears

Writer: Steve Coogan (screenplay), Jeff Pope (screenplay), Martin Sixsmith (book "The Lost Child of Philomena Lee")

Runtime: 98 min

Main Cast:

Judi Dench as Philomena Lee
Mare Winningham as Mary
Michelle Fairley as Sally Mitchell
Steve Coogan as Martin Sixsmith

Review: by Anthony and Lee

We did not know much about Philomena going in to see it. All we knew was that it starred the Dame Judi Dench as a woman searching for her long lost son and was supposed to be a comedy.

What We Liked:

The Dame Judi Dench is always fantastic, and her role as Philomena was no exception. Philomena is, by far, the most memorable, lovable character. Her eternal optimism and refusal to be ruffled or angered coupled with her innocence and pure heart made her startlingly unique.

It was genuinely funny. The scenes between Philomena and Martin were hilariously awkward, and their misunderstandings made for many moments.

It was also rather inspiring. Philomena’s determination to find her son and the strength of her character touched even the stone-hearted Martin and left us marveling at her capacity to love. The realization that the story was true made it all the more touching.

What We Didn’t Like:

We went back and forth over the portrayal of religion in the movie, and it is very heavily religion-oriented. Philomena, portrayed as naive and somewhat weak, was the religious character, while Martin, witty, clever, and sophisticated, did not so much as believe in God. His disdain for her beliefs was obvious as was his opinion that she was blinded by them, but by the end of the movie you see that it is she who has the strength because of her beliefs. I would say that Philomena came out the better, but it is up for interpretation. The only real reason this made it into the negative section was that it was so ambiguous.

Summary

Philomena was a beautiful telling of the true story of Philomena Lee, filled with emotional highs and lows commanded with ease by Dame Judi Dench and her veteran acting chops.

You can purchase Philomena on Blu Ray from Amazon here:

<br />