Philomena is another film examining faith and forgiveness but in a much more lucid way. This is a true story of an elderly lady, Philomena (Dame Judi Dench) searching for her son who was taken from her 50 years ago, with the help of a journalist, and disgraced spin doctor, Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan).
This is a film that really benefits from being based on real events. It not only gives the film’s revelations more impact, it also means that the story takes some unexpected turns that a screenwriter would probably not otherwise take. There are two big plot twists that took me completely by surprise, leading to a very un-Hollywood, real and emotionally powerful conclusion.
I cannot think of a better casting choice in the title role than Judi Dench. At times mischievous, with a real glint in her eye, she also manages to subtly convey the ebbing and flowing hope of her quest and the pain of her memories. Steve Coogan rounds off a great year with a perfectly pitched performance.
He has some very funny one liners (as co-writer that is to be expected) which he delivers with his impeccable comic timing, but this is also his best dramatic performance to date. Anna Maxwell Martin as Philomena’s daughter also gives a lovely performance in the limited screen time allowed.
This extremely moving film is hard to fault. It seems a little too easy to track down the son once they are in the U.S, but I guess that is the downside of telling a true story. The flashback scenes to Philomena as a young girl and the harsh treatment of her by the nuns feel a little bit too familiar after recent publicity about such cases and the harrowing ‘The Magdalene Sisters’.
In that regard, more credit needs to go to Coogan and his co-writer (Jeff Pope) in recognising that the real heart of the story lies in the relationship between Martin and Philomena, and bringing that much more front and centre of the film than in the book it was based on. Anyway, those are very nit-picky criticisms, and this is an intelligent, funny and deeply affecting film.