'Philomena' A Review

Philomena is a English drama about a woman trying to find her son she was forced to give up for adoption. Martin Sixsmith(Steve Coogan) has been outed as a political advisor and is at loose ends when he is approached by the daughter of Philomena(Judi Dench) about helping her mother locate her first child she was forced to give up while confined in a convent. After some persuasion he agrees and Martin and Philomena begin a journey into her past following a trail that is very cold.

The most striking thing about the film is it's realism and authenticity. There is the feeling that these are real people in a real situation, a spotlight on a story that doesn't have great political importance but significant universal emotional weight. Dench and Coogan both give multi-faceted performances playing somewhat against type, Dench as a simple, dotty country Irish lady and Coogan as a distant, quietly angry man suffering a mid-life crisis. The chemistry between the two is enough to carry the film but the story contains enough twists and surprises to create a shocking amount of tension for what would seem, on paper, a rather conventional drama. Dench and Coogan's relationship develops as most friendships or partnerships do, slowly. There is no large change or transformation form either character but we get to know them as they get to know each other, in unfolds beautifully.

A moving, surprising, resonate story which elucidates a small secret with large implications.

See It.