Philomena

Steve Coogan was a politician or journalist or something but took the blame, or was blamed, for some sort of cock up and lost his job. In order to get some credibility and some fame he decides that human interest stories would be super happy fun times and goes to look for Dame Judi Dench. Judi gave birth when she was younger and ended up in a nunnery where they looked after her and her son, fed her, gave her a job, sold her baby, you know good guy stuff. Steve decides it will be his mission to help Judi find said baby that now should be 40ish and begin a journey across America, Ireland, little bit of England, I think thats it, to search for and reunite this son and mother combo.

The events that occur during this film are awful, unbelievable and completely true. It is a story that if I am honest I knew nothing about and could not imagine anything more heartbreaking for a mother. Judi Dench is outstanding as the now elderly mother searching for a child that was stolen from her decades ago. She manages to make you feel for her completely without ever making you pity her. Steve Coogan is equally great in his role as the politician turned human interest writer. Not only does Philomena have a journey to go on but Steve turns from cynical and harsh to a soft squidgy puddle of emotion. I can honestly say the way this story develops is shocking and makes you question the true morality behind the decisions of these nuns and the 'beliefs' that drove them to be such heartless and frankly disgraceful human beings. All credit cannot be given to the actors however as the direction is pretty great aswell. It is handled with delicacy by Stephen Frears but he does not sugar coat at all. It is not without flaws this film as the pace does slow a little at times but to be honest this is me attempting to find fault rather than a problem in and of itself. Loved it.

Verdict: 4.5/5