Dir: Stephen Frears,UK, 2013, 97 mins, Cert: 12A, Language English.
Starring: Steve Coogan, Judi Dench, Sophie Kennedy Clark, Charles Edwards.
Based on a real-life story, the film opens with political spin-doctor and former BBC journalist Martin Sixsmith (Coogan) meeting waitress Jane Lee who suggests he meets her mother Philomena (Dench), who was forced to put her son up for adoption when she was in her teens and stuck in a brutal Irish convent. And so, Sixsmith and Philomena head first to the Irish convent and then on to Washington DC as they try and track down the son she was forced to give up but had never forgotten. Their journey not only reveals the striking and moving story of her son, but also creates an unexpected bond between Sixsmith and Philomena. The film is littered with some genuinely funny moments as well as some barbed digs at targets as varied as the Church and Ryan Air, but these are always balanced by the fact that this is a serious and very real story, with tearjerking moments always lurking just around the corner.
€7/€5/€3
