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Title: Philomena (2013)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Judi Dench | ... | Philomena | |
| Steve Coogan | ... | Martin Sixsmith | |
| Sophie Kennedy Clark | ... | Young Philomena | |
| Mare Winningham | ... | Mary | |
| Barbara Jefford | ... | Sister Hildegarde | |
| Ruth McCabe | ... | Mother Barbara | |
| Peter Hermann | ... | Pete Olsson | |
| Sean Mahon | ... | Michael | |
| Anna Maxwell Martin | ... | Jane | |
| Michelle Fairley | ... | Sally Mitchell | |
| Wunmi Mosaku | ... | Young Nun | |
| Amy McAllister | ... | Sister Anunciata | |
 |
Charlie Murphy | ... | Kathleen |
| Cathy Belton | ... | Sister Claire | |
| Kate Fleetwood | ... | Young Sister Hildegarde | |
When former journalist Martin Sixsmith is dismissed from the Labour Party in disgrace, he is at a loss as to what do. That changes when a young Irish woman approaches him about a story of her mother, Philomena, who had her son taken away when she was a teenage inmate of a Catholic convent. Martin arranges a magazine assignment about her search for him that eventually leads to America. Along the way, Martin and Philomena discover as much about each other as about her son's fate. Furthermore, both find their basic beliefs challenged. Written by Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)
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The film starts with the message that it is based on true events. Although you might wonder what was changed for the film, you soon forget that and accept it as a whole. In short it was brilliant. It could have been a predictable story but instead it had other dimensions and took unexpected directions with strong characters and some humour. I thought I knew an outline beforehand and was pleasantly surprised when that part was covered in the first twenty minutes. It was intriguing where the story would take us and that happened a few more times later. In addition to Philomena's journey, there was also Martin Sixsmith's journey from the beginning as just a detached journalist doing a human interest story on someone, whom he thought was beneath him, to being totally involved and offering not to publish it. To illustrate the depths of this film you can see how it attacks cruel, narrow-minded, sanctimonious Catholicism and at the same time shows how the faith gave strength to Philomena and the ability to forgive rather than to wreak vengeance. The acting was totally convincing. It is going to be a competitive year but Judy must be up for another Oscar. Just watching Steve Coogan's almost imperceptible expressions of irritation as Philomena told him the interminable plot of the book she had just been reading, was wonderful. This is definitely the best film I have seen all year. After writing this I read the interview with Martin Sixsmith on the Guardian web-site. It fills in more detail about Michael Hess (Anthony Lee) but confirms the whole truth of the story.