Philomena

You’d have to be the possessor of a heart of stone to fail to be moved by and enjoy this based-on-a-true-story about a sixtysomething Irish woman trying to track down the son who was taken from her (by Catholic nuns) 50 years earlier. Fortunately, my heart is normal, and I think the film is excellent.

Judi Dench plays Philomena Lee, who became pregnant out of wedlock in the early 1950s, a crime against morality in those barbarian days. She was sent to a convent, and allowed to see her son for one hour a day; the rest of the time she spent scrubbing laundry – unpaid. Then one day, a rich American couple appeared, paid $1000 and off Anthony went to the U S of A never to be seen by Philomena again. Fast forward 50 years, and she finally tells her daughter about Anthony and how she still wonders what happened to him. Daughter locates ex-BBC journalist, ex-Labour Party spin doctor Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan), and he is persuaded, against his better judgement, to take on this human interest story, rather than write a book about Russian history.

And there’s the core of the film. Odd couple, one a naive, poorly-educated and good-hearted woman, still a devout Catholic despite what happened; the other a cynical younger man who is torn between the scent of the chase and genuinely caring about the woman and her missing son. It makes a cracking story, and the fact that the book it is based on tells a somewhat different tale is not necessarily important. 

It is something of a cliche to sing Dench’s praises since she seems incapable of being anything but wonderful. True, she is a little old for the part, being all but 80, though that barely shows. She carries everything off beautifully – Philomena’s simplicity, her innate wisdom and sense, and her ability to alternate between shallow banalities, profound insight and coarse language. More of a revelation is Steve Coogan, who, in his third film this year (see also The Look Of Love  and Alpha Papa) has found his best role. It is of course ironic that a man so loathed by the national press should be playing a journalist, but I am sure that Coogan, who also co-wrote the script, enjoyed the irony. He does an excellent job of avoiding Partridgeisms, and makes Sixsmith into a decent and believable human being, who to some extent represents us (the audience) in the film.

Philomena is catnip to the middle class audience it is aimed at, judging by the sold out signs and packed houses. Its combination of emotional journey, surprise revelation, anti-Catholicism and buddy-movie appeal is irresistible to many, and may even propel Dench to another Oscar nomination. And who can say she doesn’t deserve it?

7/10

Phil Raby

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