Movie Review: "Philomena"

"Philomena": B+. Those of us who were taught by the nuns in Catholic grade schools are very familiar with the concept of being put on guilt trips.  Even something relatively minor, such as telling a white lie or using the "D" word, might have caused us to make absolutely certain we confessed our sins at the first available moment lest we suffer a fatal accident and get sent to purgatory or, possibly, hell.  Philomena takes guilt trips to an entirely new level. It is the story of a devout Irish woman who has been on a guilt trip for over fifty years.  Her crime?  Consentual sex at the age of fourteen, followed by conception of a baby boy she named Anthony.

The year was 1952, and as was customary in that era, young Philomena (Sophie Kennedy Clark) was "sent away" to Roscrea Abbey, a grim institution run by (mostly) heartless nuns.  In return for room, board and purported medical care, the unwed mothers signed a contract by which they relinquished present and future parental rights to their offspring.  The movie does not get into the legality of these contracts, and therefore questions of minor capacity (i.e., the enforceability of a contract signed by a person under the age of 18 or 21) must be overlooked by the moviegoer.  During the first twenty minutes of the film, one thought I had was, "This story is going to set the Catholic Church back twenty years."  I underestimated the damage.

Philomena (Judi Dench) has not let her treatment at the hands of the nuns at the abbey render her faithless. Quite the opposite, in fact.  Philomena regularly attends Mass, praying for the well-being of her son.  She cherishes a photograph of little Anthony which a young novice at Roscrea secretly handed her days before the nuns permitted his adoption by an American doctor and his wife,   She has kept the existence of Anthony secret throughout the years, but finally reveals the truth to her adult daughter, Jane (Anna Maxwell Martin).

Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan) is a journalist who used to work for the BBC before getting fired from the British prime minister's cabinet.  He is "in between jobs" you might say.  Jane meets Martin at a reception at which she is working, and attempts to interest him in Philomena's story.  He quickly dismisses it as merely a public interest story, but an editor urges him to change his mind.  The editor figures her readers will eat it up. Whether the ending turns out to be happy or sad makes little difference.  In fact, in her view, sad might be better.  Jane is the liaison between her mother and Martin.  Soon thereafter Martin accepts the challenge of helping Philomena find out what happened to Anthony, a question that's been tugging at her heart since her days at Roscrea.

The story which unfolds mostly takes place in America, where Martin uses his connections in an attempt to ascertain Anthony's whereabouts.  The two intertwined story lines are the search for Anthony and the relationship between Martin and "Phil," as he sometimes likes to call her.  As with any investigative story, the Englishman and his Irish companion track down leads, doing research and interviewing key people.  Their findings lead them to dig deeper, with both Philomena and Martin choosing not to settle for merely the "what" answers, but also for the "whys."  The ending is disturbing, but of course you will have to see the film yourself to find out why.

Special mention must be given to Clark for her portrayal of young Philomena.  I was wincing during the childbirth moments, and the scenes involving her and baby Anthony are enough to make a grown man cry. Clark is probably not on the screen enough minutes to garner Oscar consideration, although keep in mind that the Academy surprised a lot of people when it nominated Viola Davis for Best Supporting Actress for her appearance in 2008's Doubt.  Davis was not on-screen more than a few minutes in that film.  Whether or not Clark is nominated, keep an eye out for this twenty-something Scottish actress, who used to be a model for Burberry.

Dench, who will turn eighty this year, is on an absolute roll. I loved her in Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (reviewed here on May 31, 2012, A-) and in the Bond caper, Skyfall (December 20, 2012, B+).  As the title character in Philomena, Dench is sensitive, heartbroken, hopeful, spiritual, humorous and witty. Philomena holds her own with the former government official, Sixsmith, who is several decades younger and obviously more world-savvy.  Coogan, age forty-eight, might be more well-known in the UK for his television work, but kudos to him for his pairing with Dench.  One can tell that this actor has a certain comedic sense and, indeed, his resume includes years as a comedian and impressionist.  One of the funniest lines in the film occurs early on, when Sixsmith is going over the results of his physical examination with his doctor.  The doctor rattles off several findings:  Blood pressure, check; heart rate, check, etc.  Then the doctor says, "Stool sample, outstanding," to which Sixsmith, with a huge smile, expresses relief.  "No," exclaims the doc, "'Outstanding' means you never submitted one!"