I have been looking forward to seeing Judi Dench in her new movie Philomena since I first heard about it and I am glad to say it is worth the wait. I really liked this movie and think that it is defeniatly a must see for anyone who likes a drama movie or as the harden journalist Martin would say "a human interest story." This is based on a true story and the book of Martin Sixsmith called The Lost Child of Philomena Lee.
Philomena starts Judi Dench as the title character an old Irish women who has been trying to find information about her son who was adopted out when he was little. This movie goes between two timelines, one of young Philomena, played by Sophie Kennedy Clark, who gets pregnant as a young girl and goes to work in a convent run by nuns who take in fallen girls who are pregnanat. When they go to work there they agree to give up their children for adoption and Philomena never knew were her son ended up as she never wanted him to be adopted out. The other stotryline is about present day Philomena, played by Judi Dench, who has been trying to find out information about her son for years, on his fifteeith birthday, Philomena tells her daughter about how she lost her son and is connected to an cynical, looking for direction journalist Martin Sixsmith, played by Steven Coogan. He takes it on as a story to help her find out information about her son and along the way he develops a relationship with Philomena. Many things are discovered about Philomena and who he son is and a look at how things were hard for young women in Ireland when they were Catholic and found themselves pregnant when young and unwed. Athough this story is set around seeking the information about Philomena's son, it is very much about the relationship between her and Martin and how they both are while learning this information.
I really, really, really liked this movie and there were moments where I found myself crying about all the things that Philomena went through and really connecting with wanting everything to work out and her to get the information about her son. Judi Dench was fantastic and from the beginning of the movie she pulled me in so that I cared about her and how much love she had for this son who she had lost as a small boy. She was a birth mother who just wanted to know if her son was alright and if he ever thought about her. I found myself going through this emotional journey with her, while seeing how hardened Martin was trying to find a story through Philomena and dealing with his feelings toward God and the "evil nuns." Steven Coogan was fantastic as Martin and the chemestry between Coogan and Dench was superb.
Anyone who likes drams, Judi Dench, and movies that connect with the audience should go see this movie. I think it is one of the best acted female lead movies that I have seen in a long time, and that not just because I like Judi Dench but because she just seemed to embody the role. The settings in Ireland were buitiful, but it was not the focus it was just a nice touch in the background.
The production value was good in this movie, the pace kept it moving for a drama, and the focus was on the people in the movie. Go and see this movie.
My Rating: 4
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