Film Review: "Philomena" (2013).

"These two unlikely companions are on a journey to find her long lost son" in Philomena. This drama film directed by Stephen Frears, written by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope, and based on the book The Lost Child of Philomena Lee by journalist Martin Sixsmith. In 1952, Irish teenager Philomena became pregnant out of wedlock and was sent to a convent. When her baby, Anthony, was a toddler, the nuns took Philomena's child away from her and put him up for adoption in the United States. For the next fifty years, she searched tirelessly for her son. When former BBC correspondent Sixsmith learns of the story, he becomes her ally. They travel together to America to find Anthony and become unexpectedly close in the process.

By late October 2012, Judi Dench, Coogan, Michelle Fairley, and Barbara Jefford were cast in a drama based on Sixsmith's 2009 book penned by Coogan and Pope and to directed by Frears. At the same time, principal photography commenced and wrapped in early January 2013. Filming took place throughout Northern Ireland; Maryland and Washington, District of Columbia, USA; and London, England.

The film stars Dench, Coogan, Fairley, and Jefford. Dench gives an unwavering performance as a woman who is a survivor, with an impressive ability to forgive even those that don't deserve it. Dench and Cooper could do this stuff in their sleep and keep us entertained, which they do, but it's the nuanced twists and turns in both the characters and the story that elevate the picture beyond the familiar.

The film transcends its roots as a class study, becoming instead a poignant and funny story of forgiveness and the true nature of love. Besides Dench's fierce eyes, the most interesting part of the film is watching the picture of the lost son unfold as the buddy-cop pairing of Dench and Coogan ferret out his life story. Frears overplays his hand occasionally, but the film is balanced by some fine performances and a delicate script by Coogan. Surprisingly harrowing at times, the film avoids becoming an overwrought melodrama through the balance in characterisation between Martin's cynicism and Philomena's faith. The film's tone is bittersweet, with Philomena's deep-seated regret propelling the duo's journey forward at a gentle glide. Because the tale is so inherently emotional with its subject matter, all you need is a competent director and a couple of crack actors to wheedle that trajectory out. The film encompasses so much so adroitly -- it really is a remarkable story -- that we can admire its structure as a film, even as we absorb its sometimes startling facts and as we truly feel for its people. It is quiet, restrained, unfussy, and has, at its heart, an injustice so grave it will make your blood boil. You will also cry. Bittersweet and smart, the film is a character piece that carefully weaves in ugly parts of American and Irish history, a story that's as much about hatred and misused power as it is about faith and forgiveness.

Simon says Philomena receives: