This remarkable story of an unemployed journalist helping a sweet Irishwoman find the son she gave up 50 years before skillfully mixes grief with laughter and cynicism with hope. Judi Dench and Steve Coogan make an entertaining odd couple and both have been nominated for (so far) BAFTA Awards (the British Oscars) for these roles. We all expect greatness (though not usually an Irish lilt) from Dame Dench (last blogged in Skyfall) but the range of Coogan's (most recently in What Maisie Knew) acting is growing by leaps and bounds. Coogan also co-wrote the snappy script (his second feature and first drama after lots of British TV comedy) with Jeff Pope (over a dozen other credits, none known to me), adapting the 2009 book The Lost Child of Philomena Lee: A Mother, Her Son, and a Fifty Year Search, by Martin Sixsmith, which he had adapted from his newspaper article. This script won the Best Screenplay Award at the Venice Film Festival and is nominated for a BAFTA as well. We had not researched much less read the book, so we were surprised by a plot twist or two. You can easily find out the entire plot beforehand but I'm glad I didn't. Expect nice work from young Sophie Kennedy Clark as the young Philomena and a cringe-inducing cameo from Mare Winningham late in the third act.
The story brought me recollections of the brutal but brilliant The Magdalene Sisters (2002) which is about "fallen" Irish girls punished in a convent in the 1960s.
We expect nominations for director Stephen Frears (covered in depth in Chéri) as well. When the Oscars come around, you will want to have seen this. Don't just listen to Jack and me, trust the reviews at rottentomatoes (93 critics/92 audiences).
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