Directed by: Stephen Frears
Starring: Judi Dench, Steve Coogan, Sophie Kennedy Clark
Philomena is many films at once: A scathing essay on the Catholic Church, a heartfelt drama about a woman searching for the son she was forced to give up for adoption years ago, and some human comedy between its two leads. All of it flows effortlessly into an absorbing film. Judi Dench (Oscar nominated for her performance) plays the London-based title character as a woman with deep hurts, deep regrets, and yet a positive, sympathetic outlook on life. She takes joys in the little things, like hotel robes and buffets. She just wants to know what happened to the son she gave birth to and then watched being taken away by another family.
Her traveling companion in her search for her son is journalist Martin Sixsmith (Coogan), who has fallen from grace and now writes human interest stories. He despises his job, but something about Philomena's story intrigues him. Or maybe he is just desperate. Either way, the pair travels to the convent in Ireland where Philomena lived as an unwed mother and gave birth to her son. The nuns repeatedly made Philomena and the other girls feel ashamed of their sexuality and for giving birth out of wedlock. They worked as nearly indentured servants as penance. One day, her child was adopted by an American family and Philomena never saw him again.
The convent conveniently lost all of its records in a recent fire, so the pair soon journeys to Washington, DC in order to find out more. Martin's anger with church hypocrisy and intolerance only intensifies after seeing what happened with Philomena. He is cynical to be sure, but also carries a chip on his shoulder about his lot in life. Philomena's outlook is significantly rosier despite this horrible event.
Dench and Coogan are an odd couple, but they grow to understand each other as they close in on her son's whereabouts. Fate makes a tearful reunion impossible, but Philomena continues on undaunted and unbowed. I really enjoyed these performances. We see a gradual smoothing of the rough edges between Martin and Philomena even though neither truly changes much about their respective personalities. Perhaps the mutual quest has brought them closer together. They care for each other and they care about what happened to her son.
Philomena doesn't strive for easy payoffs and cheap sentimentality. It ends happily in a way because we learn how Philomena's lifelong love for her child was not unrequited. It is a touching development revealed in a surprising way. We are happy to have taken the journey with these two people. Dench delivers one of her best performances. This is a woman who can play Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth I, M from the James Bond series, and Philomena Lee. An amazing array of people from an amazing actress. Coogan has played mostly comic roles, but really excels here with a character who can be somewhat caustic and self-serving. Watch him as he delivers the news to Philomena about her son's fate. For the first time, this is not just a story for him, but real life with real human emotions involved.
The story here is complex and challenging. It tests our capacity for outrage and ultimately forgiveness, much like life did for Philomena Lee. Her final confrontation with the nuns who shamed her is remarkable because it does not go for the easy way out. We see who Philomena truly is. She says, "I don't want to hate people," Philomena (co-written by Coogan) has the courage to be a film that isn't easily pigeonholed and is all the greater for it.
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