Philomena
Dir: Stephen Frears
2013
****
I winced ever so slightly when I heard that Stephen Frears was going to direct this true story of a lost child of the infamous Sean Ross Abbey, an Irish monastery that took in young pregnant Girls and sold their babies to wealthy American couples while punishing them for their sins. Not because he's not a good director, but because the subject needed to be handed right and I've felt some of his earlier films to have been too heavy handed. Peter Mullan made the fantastic The Magdalene Sisters back in 2002 and I wasn't sure the story could be beaten. I also had huge reservations about Steve Coogan playing Martin Sixsmith of all people. I'm happy to say that the balance was right, both director and actor were spot on the money and the lovely Judi Dench was as great as ever. The story is compelling and down-right strange at times. It feels like it's been made up, it's the most unlikely true story I've ever heard and so much more. It probably angered me more than anything but this is were Stephen Frears's real talent comes in, as he keeps it balanced and perfectly timed. The story is too important not to be told correctly and Frears and co do so admirably.