Philomena is a fine little movie that has somehow been classified as a great movie worthy of Best Picture and Best Actress (Judy Dench – Notes on a Scandal, Shakespeare In Love) nominations. In my opinion, neither are deserving. This movie, though only 1 hour 38 minutes, never felt super slow, but it still did feel long. I think that had to do with the story not winning me over. In a year where there were many decent movies but not many great ones, Philomena will not be remembered. I think when people go back and remember 2013, the list isn’t very deep. People will remember 12 Years A Slave, Gravity, and possibly Frozen (I’m not an animated movie type of guy, so I won’t see this movie, but I understand how great others think it is).
In any case, Philomena is worthy of a review because I still did like it. It’s a story based on the true events of a mother named Philomena (Dench) trying to find her son Anthony who she conceived out of wedlock some 50 years ago. Philomena was raised in a convent and, after she became pregnant as a teenager, was forced to become an indentured servant for the next four years, doing the absolute worst of duties. This was not entirely abnormal in the Irish-Catholic community that raised her. Getting pregnant out of wedlock was certainly a frowned upon practice at the convent, but apparently also profitable. Philomena was not the only woman in her situation. The women were allowed an hour a day with their child until they reached a certain age where he/she could be adopted (or sold) to a family. According to the church doctrine, Philomena, as well as the other woman who had mothered children out of wedlock, had to sign a contract that said they could not ever inquire about the whereabouts of her child.
Philomena has one tiny photo to remind her of her son (when he was about three years old). She looks at this every day and prays for him. She has since started her own family in England. On Anthony’s 50th birthday, she becomes increasingly curious about who her son is. She’s been having nightmares that he is homeless. Enter Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan – In The Loop, Night at the Museum), the former press secretary of the Prime Minister who has been forced to resign from his position even though he has done nothing wrong and has even cleared his name. Unlike the ultra-religious Philomena, Martin doesn’t believe in God. The predicament of his situation furthers his belief in this. Philomena and Martin are not opposites, however. They aren’t by any means. But they do have very different spiritual belief systems. These differences, I think, bring them together more than they do divide them, though. The differences aren’t so great at the start, but they become a major component of the film the closer the unlikely pair become and the more trying their circumstances test their faith.
The pair travels to the United States in their attempts to locate Anthony. Their journey takes them on emotional and spiritual roller coasters. They combat the highs and lows in different ways and don’t always understand how or why the other one handles things the way they do. It’s a heartbreaking story at times that has a good number of twists along the way. It’s one of those movies where you think you have it figured out, you’re taken for another loop.
It’s good. It’s not great. In my opinion, it is not deserving of a Best Picture nomination. Judy Dench should have been on the outside looking in for a Best Actress nomination. She also was good, but not great. Coogan’s performance was slightly more impressive, in my opinion. There were nine movies nominated for Best Picture this year. I recommend seeing the other eight before watching this one, even though I was a bigger fan of this movie than American Hustle.
Plot 9/10
Character Development 8.5/10
Character Chemistry 9/10
Acting 9/10
Screenplay 8.5/10
Directing 8.5/10
Cinematography 8/10
Sound 7/10
Hook and Reel 8.5/10 (perfect use of flashbacks throughout this film to establish the raw emotion of Dench’s character)
Universal Relevance 9/10
85%
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