I knew that I almost certainly would like this film but I had a different idea of what it would be. I didn't expect such a wonderful, sweet and heartbreaking story.

This tells the story of Philomena Lee and the jornalist who got interested in helping her in the pursuit of her lost child. This woman passed through some rough times in her life. She got pregnant, her family abandoned her in a convent for girls in the same situation of Philomena's to be punished by her sins. They were slaved by the sisters of the convent, and they just could see their children for one hour a day. Posteriorly they sold their babies to American families.

The catholic issues…

Fucking Catholics.
-Martin Sixsmith

A manipulative film that tugs at your heart strings like a master puppeteer, but I loved it nonetheless. Based the book The Lost Child of Philomena Lee by Martin Sixsmith it tells the true story of Philomena and her search for a son that was taken away from her 50 years earlier... by Catholic Nuns. Are you tearing up yet?

A character in the film actually puts it best. Martin Sixsmith's editor, played by Michelle Fairley (of Game of Thrones fame), tells him he needs to follow the story to the end because WHATEVER they find will be an great ending. The crux of the story is a mother searching for a son she was forced…

"We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time."

Philomena surpassed my expectations considering I thought it would be just another pairing of two unlikely companions on a road trip (the terrible Guilt Trip comes to mind here), but I was surprised to see how well the two main actors played off each other sharing a great chemistry on screen and how well balanced the script was, allowing me to feel completely moved by the story. First of all Philomena is based on a tragic and upsetting true story, but somehow director Stephen Frears (The Queen) manages to tell it with…

75%⛪️
Philomena is a great and heartfelt film that is very underrated. This was a delightful! It’s a very emotional movie. Judi Dench was amazing here. She was very charismatic and charming as the main character. Steve Coogan was great here as well. Their characters had great chemistry and I really loved their friendship. The direction was pretty good. It’s a nice looking film. The screenplay was good as well mostly notable in the dialogue department. It’s an impactful and important film. Some of the topics it tackled were really interesting. I think it’s one of those films that I won’t necessarily think a lot about. It was great at the moment and that’s all I need sometimes. I’m not…

Performances : 8.1/10
Story : 7.2/10
Production : 7/10
Overall : 7.4/10

The thought of Steve Coogan in a dramatic role was very off-putting to me. I've seen him in far too many brilliant comedic roles, so I assumed seeing him without the yucks just wouldn't work. I was completely wrong. Coogan looks extremely comfortable playing a detached journalist slowly learning to care about his human interest (piece).

Oh yeah, Judi Dench is in this movie as well. Nothing out of the ordinary here. Just her usual air or dignified grace playing a woman searching for her long lost son.

The story was warm, heartbreaking and very touching. It's well paced, flying by almost in the way that a thriller…

Despite its positive critical reception I had been wary of watching Philomena, dismissing it as a manipulative weepy aimed at a mature market. Yet whilst it is manipulative in parts and liable to cause a teary eye on more than one occasion I’m pleased to say my snap assessment was rather wide of the mark. In fact it is possibly Stephen Frears best film in years.

Philomena tells the story of a cynical political journalist and disgraced spin doctor who takes up the story of the eponymous Philomena, an elderly Irish woman looking for a son who was stolen from her by nuns 50-years earlier. Falling pregnant as an unmarried teen she was disowned by her family and forced to…

I missed Philomena during last year’s Oscar run-up .. possibly intentionally. Perusing the British Airways VOD selection on a recent flight, sure enough, there it was. Well, maybe on the way back, I thought, in the meantime I’ll watch The Lego Movie, and then, er, maybe Saving Mr. Banks. Return flight time, and it’s still there. My Wife reinforcing that I should watch it … it’s good. Myself, still somehow less than inspired. Maybe watch RoboCop 2014 first. Ok, 4 hours left to go .. I’ll try Philomena.

I love Dench, and I’m OK with Coogan, but somehow feared that I’d been in for a mawkish ride. I’ll have to say that Denche’s adroit skills sidestepped that pitfall. Her portrayal…

Thankfully, religion’s hold on culture has waned into near irrelevance as a result of the shifts towards secular, liberal, humanistic values which have taken place over the past 50 years or so.

But as the Catholic Church’s cruelty drifts ever further away into the historical record, its legacy lingers, haunting so many who have been wrenched from children and loved ones, never to see them again, or in many cases, never to know the suffering they have endured.

What this film wrestles with so wonderfully is just how one should face evil. Specifically, what it means to truly ‘move on’ from harm inflicted by another. There is, in my view, a line to be drawn between allowing wrongdoings against you to turn…