sabine-einecke Brilliant played and absolutely fantastic written.

Gareth Crook Heartbreaking and ultimately pretty harrowing. Both leads though are absolutely masterful. You'd expect nothing less from Dench, but she really is awesome. Coogan, who also produced and co-wrote the screenplay, in a role far removed from his usual outings is brilliant, really brilliant. Dench does steal it though, her portrayal of Philomena is touching, inspiring and she dominates the screen. The Catholic Church, once again doesn't come off too well.

Movie_Muse_Reviews The mystery of a woman searching for her lost child of 50 years; an overly polite old lady and a disgraced former journalist on an intercontinental journey; an uncovered scandal in the Catholic Church — "Philomena" has it all, and that's before you count Dame Judi Dench.Based on "The Lost Child of Philomena Lee" by Martin Sixsmith, the story follows Sixsmith's journey with Lee to find her son, Anthony, who was taken from her and put up for adoption in the 1950s by the nuns who took her in (and countless other young mothers with unplanned pregnancies whose families shunned them).Steve Coogan stars as Sixsmith, the journalist who lost his job as communications director for Britain's Department for Transport as a result of a leaked email scandal. Encouraged to write a human interest piece as a bit of a rebound for his writing career, he learns of Philomena's story from her daughter (Anna Maxwell Martin). Intrigued enough, Martin and Philomena revisit her old convent and travel to America in hopes they can track Anthony down.Their journey contains both inspiration and anger, suspense and poignance, humor and heartbreak. It's one of those perfect stories and Coogan and co-writer Jeff Pope capture it with an equaling compelling script that balances the wide range of tones and emotions, transitioning through them with elegance.Yet "Philomena" has plenty to say that's not on the page. The team of Dench and director Stephen Frears ("The Queen") prove as formidable as you'd imagine. Mostly it's Frears giving way to Dench's masterful performance, but he shows expert judgment in when to lean on his ace. Few can quietly contemplate on screen like Dench, pulling us into her character's thoughts and allowing us to settle easily into Philomena's worldview. This woman has been haunted every day by the child that was taken from her more than 50 years ago, and we get to not only follow her as she discovers the truth, but watch as she reckons with that information. How she processes the complex emotions that pour out of this story compared to how Martin processes them compared to how we as viewers process them is a significant piece of what resonates so fiercely about "Philomena."As often as Frears has cause to focus in on Dench's watery blue eyes, however, there's a healthy dose of comedy, no doubt thanks to Coogan's involvement. It all serves to give us a complete portrait of Philomena. She's principled but not angry, lost but devout, polite but foul-mouthed, easily pleased by simple things but not naive. Dench conveys them all in her performance, and it's as compelling to watch her go toe to toe with Coogan as it is to see how she'll handle the story's biggest moments.The story is so effortlessly good that it would be hard to mess it up, but the use of flashbacks in the beginning and also fake home video footage throughout slide us even deeper into Philomena's shoes. The combination of technique, writing and performance creates instantaneous investment in the story that lasts through the film's final moment. In fact, the film's only faults can be ascribed to not going deep enough into each of the story's many facets. More time could easily have been devoted to Martin's backstory, or the implications of these convents selling off children. Yet there's a certain beauty in limiting the scope of the film to this concrete stretch of time in which Martin and Philomena meet each other and set off searching for answers. "Philomena" could've easily lost its identity wandering into the many potential rabbit holes that emerge as the puzzle comes together piece by piece. Instead, the film focuses on an emotional, empathy-building, thought-provoking 98 minutes that stand testament to the powerful and invaluable role of stories.~Steven CThanks for reading! Visit Movie Muse Reviews for more

oOoBarracuda Philomena is a film that snuck up on me completely. It was a film I had wanted to see badly when it came out in 2013, but I sadly missed the chance to see it in cinema. After Philomena left cinemas, I had forgotten about it until my wonderful monthly viewing planner came to be. Yet another reason I am glad I began to organize a monthly viewing schedule; I'm given a second chance to see films that I have wanted to see but missed. Philomena, starring Judi Dench and Steve Coogan, tells the story of a woman who was forced to give up her child she had out of wedlock, and her search to find him 50 years later. Directed by Stephen Frears, Philomena is a human story delving into relationships in the most genuine way. On the anniversary of the birth of the child that was taken from her, Philomena (Judi Dench) feels ready to face her experience and seek out the son she has thought about daily for the last 50 years. Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan) is a shamed journalist dismissed from the Labour party unsure of how to get work or what to do next. When Philomena's daughter meets Martin by chance, she gives him a brief overview of her mother's story hoping to entice him to help. Martin, despite being currently unemployed, wants to stay away from human interest stories, but eventually reluctantly comes around to tell Philomena's story. Philomena tells Martin about her life, becoming pregnant out of wedlock then being sent to a Catholic Convent to deliver her baby. The convent would take care of the children and allow the young mothers to avoid medical costs and provide them with an outlet of childcare. What the mothers didn't know, however, was that the children would also be taken from them and given to adoptive parents. Once this happened to Philomena, she was heartbroken, never forgetting her son Anthony. With the help of Martin, Philomena is ready to track down her son, which quickly takes her from her home in Ireland to America. I may be in the minority here, but I always get pretty excited to see the glowing W of the Weinstein logo. I almost always fall for films distributed by the brothers and typically enjoy their output so seeing that beloved W before the opening credits was a good indication that I would enjoy Philomena. My favorite film technique, when it is well-used, are flashbacks. Philomena employs such meaningful and seamless use of flashbacks that the story is incredibly enhanced. The driving force behind Philomena is the human relationships we see develop throughout the film. The relationship you expect isn't even the one that takes precedence, as you become much more invested in Philomena and Martin than the search for Philomena's son. Stephen Frears does a beautiful job of showing the reality of people from very different lifestyles pushed together for a story, and the ups and downs they encounter together. Philomena wants to experience the search for her son with Martin alone, telling her daughter to stay home. It seems odd initially to see a stranger endure such a personal journey with Philomena until you realize that even though Philomena is searching for her own child, he was taken and thusly is a stranger to her. It is so beautiful to see the gradual strengthening of the relationship between Martin and Philomena, who at first are only tolerable of each other, eventually, becoming dear friends. The personal journey of a woman desperate to know if her stolen son ever thinks of her, Philomena is a raw, genuine film to be seen by all.