Poor Man’s Sophie’s Choice — stories of a women who have suffered tragedy, but Sophie comes away with more of your heart than Philomena can, despite Judi Dench’s best efforts.
★★★★☆
Some movies are just made to win awards, and Philomena is one of them. It has a phenomenal cast led by Steve Coogan and Dame Judi Dench. It is directed by two time Academy Award nominee Stephen Frears. It’s a biopic whose story is at heart about our relationship with God and our own sins. This film is the movie we think of when we imagine stuffy old critics nodding in approval as they leave the theatre. But unlike some of those kinds of movies, this one is also a crowd pleaser.
Judi Dench stars as the titular character, Philomena. An old Irish Woman who is searching for her lost son that was taken for her by the abbey she lived in as a young girl. Her quest comes some 50 years after her son was adopted and the guilt has finally gotten to her. Judi Dench is remarkable as Philomena Lee who is by all accounts unremarkable except in her ability to be kind to those around her. Dench’s performance is filled with little idiosyncrasies that take this paint by numbers movie to a much more interesting character study. Coogan plays opposite her the role of Martin Sixsmith, a cynical journalist trying to restart his career after a failed foray into politics. No one plays a smug british guy better than Steve Coogan.
The oft-strained relationship between Dench and Coogan is really what elevates this movie into one that I think almost everyone will at least like. Their bickering brings a sense of humor to what could be a real downer of a story. There isn’t a lot more to say about this movie that you couldn’t say about just about every other oscar darling movie that gets nominated. The script is solid. The pacing is a little slow, but not Kubrick-esque. The movie tries to bring you to tears before leaving you smiling.
These movies might seem replaceable, but I think that it’s nice to be able to have good solid films like these. They remind us of the small important things we might otherwise forget. They teach us simple things like forgiveness and empathy. They ask us big questions about god and faith. And in the end, they serve as an excellent distraction from whatever we need a distraction from.
Philomena is available on Netflix
Next week, I take the week off and David tackles Editor Billy’s assignment of M.
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