Review of Philomena (2013) by Marcmaeder — 02 Jan 2014

After a series of unfortunate missteps ("Lay The Favorite", "Chéri", "Tamara Drewe",...) it's good to see Stephen Frears back in shape....PHILOMENA is by far his strongest film since 2006 "The Queen", furthermore it re-unites him with his "Mrs Henderson Presents" star Judi Dench, she co-stars here with British comedian Steve Coogan in a more seldom straight dramatic role (Coogan is also credited as co-writer as well as one of the producers of the film). It's based on a similarly-themed Peter Mullan directed film which won the Golden Lion in Venice back in 2002 "The Magdalene Sisters", but the tone here is much lighter,...basically Coogan and co-writer Jeff Pope adapted the 2003 memoir from real-life journalist Martin Sixsmith (played by Coogan himself in the film) in which he tells how he helped an elderly Irish woman, Philomena Lee (Judi Dench), track down the son she was forced to give up 50 years earlier when sent to a Catholic convent as a pregnant teenager...

PHILOMENA is a touching comedy-drama with just the right mix of laughter and tears...aided by an inspired odd-couple of terrific actors in Dame Judi and Steve Coogan,... and with a push from warm reviews and eventual nominations, it may well have a serious shot at a nice run well beyond the British Isles in various upscale markets around the world...