Hottoceame The Age of Commercialism

Bereamic Awesome Movie

Verity Robins Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

mark.waltz The search for a lost child is always filled with mystery, but in the case of Judi Dench as the title character, she seems to see her son's life happening long after they were separated. Taken to an Irish convent where mostly cruel nuns took in unwed mothers, sold the babies to wealthy Americans and made them work off the "hospitality" through hard labor. With the help of a BBC reporter, Dench travels to Washington DC where the truth is revealed, and all is not happy once she finds out.While the novel tells the story mostly through the son's eyes, this is told through Philomena's, obviously to focus on the wonderful Dench. It's not a story of the evils of the church, but one woman's determination to reach out to her greatest love, an adorable little boy who went far in life, but not without a price.The way this story is told in other hands would be a lifetime movie, but with Dench, it is a personal story, a character study, a tale of redemption and finality, and obviously, a lesson in what great acting is all about. Dench is pretty much the whole film, glowing even under the most tragic of circumstances. One should not see the negativity about the church here, just one aspect of a huge organization that has a history of both good and evil.

Paul Guest Based on a true story, 'Philomena' (on TV, 26 02 16) mixes documentary realism, a mystery story and comedy with consummate success. At its heart is the striking contrast between the journalist Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan), portrayed as a cynical 'hack' and atheist, and Philomena Lee (Judi Dench), a devout Catholic, seemingly simple yet thoroughly clear-headed.The story looks back to 1952, when Philomena's father sent her to a convent as punishment for having a child out of wedlock. It portrays Ireland at that time far more harshly than 'Brooklyn' (also set in 1952). The nuns subject Philomena and other girls to a shockingly Spartan regime reminiscent of pre-Revolutionary French convents in Diderot's novel 'La religieuse' (filmed most recently in 2013). Worse still, they have no compunction in selling the girls' babies. It's sobering to think that their appallingly misguided practices could have taken place in such relatively recent times.Sister Hildegarde (Barbara Jefford), superior of the convent in 1952, embodies one of three variations on the theme of Catholicism. She is an unyielding fundamentalist, for whom sexual relations are 'carnal incontinence'. At the opposite extreme, Martin Sixsmith is a lapsed Catholic who bitterly detests the Church. Philomena, by contrast with both those characters, not only keeps her faith but practises it – heroically so in one case. So the story is essentially fair to the Catholic Church.By the time of the main action, 2002, Sister Hildegarde is very old and frail. Mother Barbara (Ruth McCabe), her successor at the time, is completely different: quite young, dressed in an unobtrusive habit and caring in her manner. It's also striking that one of the nuns (played by Wunmi Mosaku) is black.Sixsmith has temporarily abandoned his specialist field of Russian history for investigative journalism. In that role, he's accountable to his editor, who is really no more humane than Sister Hildegarde. When he tells her on the phone that Philomena is 'in bits' over her long-lost son's fate in the USA, she crows with delight.His investigation makes the film partly a mystery story. Its outcome is a great surprise, linking Ireland and the USA well after 1952.Judi Dench is thoroughly convincing as a talkative, warm-hearted and sometimes slightly embarrassing Irish woman. One of her most endearing traits is the way she repeats the name Martin in her conversations with him. Like her, Steve Coogan achieves some very subtle changes of attitude, mood and pace. There's just one touch, I think, of Alan Partridge when Sixsmith makes an awkwardly suggestive quip to Mother Barbara on seeing photos of Jane Russell and Jayne Mansfield.This film struck me as profoundly moving and I felt the tears welling up more than once. Yet another fine piece of work from Stephen Frears, and full credit to Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope for the screenplay.

phoenix 2 A political journalist is moved by the story of a woman who tries to find her son after 50 years and so he takes upon helping her and writing her story. As it is based on real facts, the story couldn't have outdone itself. But the simplicity of it along with the extraordinary twists gives the movie a freshness that couldn't be found in a made up story. The performances are brilliant, along with simple, real dialogues. The story doesn't focus only on Philomena finding her son, but on the role of church in it, of society and how religion can be viewed differently from different people. Philomena is kind hearted, religious but flexible. She forgives the people who have harmed her and she loves her boy, even if she hadn't seen him for 50 years and he is different of what she expected. So 7 out of 10, only because the movie tended to focus on the journalist and his character more than on Philomena's story.

phoenix0374 Finally! A movie about what went on in that time era.. a time of cruel hypocrisy, when unwed motherhood was akin to criminal activity.Judy Dench is amazing - she assume the role completely, and portrays the lifetime trauma that has affected everyone who has been a 'victim' of having to relinquish a child to the 'system' or, in this case, 'The Catholic Church'I found this movie heartbreaking, but at least I now have a sense of satisfaction that these atrocities have finally been brought out into the open. Adopted children who were told 'their mother didn't want them' are now given the opportunity to see what REALLY happened.