Review: Philomena (2013)

In taking part in Dell on Movies recent Tears of a Clown Blogathon, I was trying to come up with comedic actors who have taken on serious roles. One that I came up with that didn’t make the final cut for the Blogathon was Steve Coogan in Philomena. Which then reminded me that I hadn’t done a review of this little treasure.

Philomena (Judi Dench) is contacted by political journalist, Martin (Steve Coogan) about her past as a pregnant teenager who had her child taken away and was kept in a convent. The story leads them to try and find Philomena’s son and take a journey together on which they learn more about each other than expected.

This film was exactly what I expected, the right amount of heart-warming sentiment, comedy and twists to keep you engrossed without being bored but not the most memorable of watches. I really loved it when I was watching it but I forgot about it for months straight after it finished. However, for once I really enjoyed Coogan’s performance (someone I usually really dislike) and as always Dench was just brilliant.  

Perfect balance between sentiment and humour, not too many tears but not belittling this heartfelt story with ridiculous humour. Philomena’s ongoing love for Mills and Boon novels provides just enough laughs to avoid distracting from the heart break of it all.  My emotions didn't know what to do with themselves, one minute I was crying the next laughing, personally I think that is much more like real life, I have been known many a time to laugh through my tears.

Really lovely to watch and great performances from Coogan and Dench.