Philomena is a strange mixture: a mystery, British comedy, and buddy road trip all rolled into one. Director Stephen Frears remains honest to the original story while making it a little more cinematic. Philomena isn’t anything revolutionary or topical, but it does bring to light some past wrongs and remain consistently compelling, thanks in great part to the duo of Steve Coogan and Judi Dench.
Philomena (Dench) is an old woman served a wrong by the Irish Catholic church. Her child was taken from her by the local convent, and she never actively followed up on the matter due to her faith. Enter Martin Sixsmith (Coogan), a frustrated politician/writer who decides to write a “human interest story.” The two then follow the story down some strange holes through Ireland, the United States, and even through Ronald Reagan.
The layers of storytelling keep Philomena consistently moving and interesting. Anchoring the story is the mystery surrounding Philomena’s son, which takes many surprising turns; none are Twitter-worthy #OMG moments, but there are multiple little unexpected directions the story goes in that keep the viewer guessing. It is amazing the Catholic Church in Ireland can keep secrets so life-damaging to many young women for such a long time. In addition, the mystery is baked into the dramatic beats of the movie, which let Judi Dench and Steve Coogan show how polished they are as actors to the Oscar committee.
During the downtime, the story nicely shifts into a buddy road trip comedy. The two are polar opposites: Philomena is innocent, religious, and amused by the world; Sixsmith is erudite, agnostic, and very cynical. What makes Philomena (the movie) great is that these two are very much humans and understand emotions well. Sixsmith, while bored by Philomena, rarely condescends to her and even has moments where he admires her strength of character. Philomena in turn walks the line between simple but well-reasoned (a testament to Dench’s acting). The dichotomy does pay off with some great jokes, ranging from romance novels to hotel room movie rentals. The British accents also make the jokes just a little bit funnier as well. When the time comes for the mystery to take center stage again, the comedy quickly transitions to drama, since the missing child story is well situated as the primary narrative thrust.
There are not many peripheral characters here, outside of a few flashbacks, some of Sixmith’s journalist friends, and Philomena’s family. Therefore, it is vital that the relationship between Coogan and Dench work, and it delivers and then some. Coogan and Dench’s chemistry is great, easily conveying the many emotions they are forced to express sometimes in the same scene. Coogan’s journalism credibility is nicely established by the man, but his other relationships are useless subplots. Dench one-ups here though, since she has to act with no person in the room(through visions of her past and home video of someone).
British movies usually come off as super silly or deadly serious. Philomena takes a little from both sides creating a very solid film with a pleasant mix of jokes and drama. And unmerciful showcases of Nuns. Yeesh, I haven’t seen a more cantankerous nun since Nuns of Evil (this movie is real. The tagline is: Meet the Sisters who have sworn a vow… of violence!).