Philomena

A path of many twists and turns that keeps you engaged every minute of the way
Sometimes a film will surprise you by just how unexpectedly good it is. Directed by Stephen Frears (The Queen, Liam, My Beautiful Launderette), with a screenplay by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope based on the book The Lost Child of Philomena Lee by Martin Sixsmith, Philomena is one of those films. An extraordinary story about a woman's real-life search for the child she was compelled to give up for adoption fifty years earlier, it's also a marvelous character study of two highly mismatched people brought together by chance to solve a mystery with both knowing that the odds are very much against them. And even though this sort of story has been done many times before, Philomena not only manages to avoid cliche, it takes surprising twists and turns along the way showing that real life can indeed trump the best that fiction has to offer. It engages you from the very beginning, draws you further in with each scene until you are so deeply invested in the characters and their quest that...

Moving "human interest story"
"Philomena" (2013 release from the UK; 95 min.) brings the story ("inspired by true events", we are reminded at the beginning) of Martin Sixsmith (played by Steve Coogan) and Philomena Lee(played by Judi Dench). As the movie opens, we learn that journalist Sixsmith just lost his job (Sixsmith: 'I'm depressed because I just go the sack'; his doctor: 'But it wasn't your fault'. Sixsmith: "that's why I'm depressed!") and is now contemplating writing a book about Russian history. Meanwhile, through flashbacks we learn that in the early 1950s Philomena became pregnant at a young age. Her parents gave her into care of the nuns at Roscrea Abbey in Ireland, where eventually her young son was given up/sold to an American couple. Philomena has been wanting to find her son ever since. Philomena's daughter convinces Sixsmith to take on this "human interest story", and off go Sixsmith and Philomena looking for her son. To tell you more would ruin your viewing...

Facts are NOT Kind to Catholic Church
You may ask what is Judi Dench up to this time? I wonder if this wonderful actress ever dreamed her career would continue to soar into her golden years. I hasten to add that everything you have heard in praise of this film is richly deserved. This is a road picture without the outrageous calamities that usually beset players in this genre; it is a gentle comedy without demeaning any of the characters; and it is also a very effective drama about a young mother and her long-lost child.

This PG-13, pleasantly scripted dramedy was co-written by Jeff Coke (Lots of TV) and Mr. Coogan himself, based on the book "The Lost Child of Philomena Lee" by Martin Sixsmith. You will see no sweaty bodies (except when Philomena gives birth), hear no gunshots, and see no vehicular mayhem. What a relief!

We have:
* Judi Dench ("Skyfall") is Philomena Lee. Many decades ago, as a pregnant teenager abolished to a convent, she was forced to give up her out-of-wedlock boy as...

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