Search for a lost son

Film Review: Philomena (12a)
Running time 98 minutes
Rating: ****
The idea of joining Steve Coogan, known to so many of us as the character Alan Partridge, with Judi Dench (one of this country’s national treasures) in a BBC/National Lottery movie about a lost child might not appear the best combination at first glance.
However, in Philomena we have a rare thing; a small-scale British picture that tells a perfectly human tale without overblown sentiment and yet still manages to make an audience weep quietly, laugh out loud and provide first-class entertainment for all ages.
The film is based on the book by former political reporter Martin Sixsmith, who left the relatively safe world of the BBC for a job working with Tony Blair, and found himself chewed up and spat out by politicians, leaving him with no career and struggling with depression.
In the film, he comes across the case of Philomena Lee, played by Dench, an elderly Irish woman who had been searching for her son, removed from her as a child by nuns who took her in as an unmarried mother.
It is said that the film takes some narrative liberties with the book but essentially, it is a ‘road trip’ story, with Sixsmith (Coogan), a bitter and cynical reporter, accompanied by a quirky and gracious Irish matron.
It traces not only the efforts of the pair to get past the Catholic Church’s scheming to bury a disturbing story of exploitation and malice, but the scratchy relationship of the two as they journey to America to find what happened to Philomena’s little boy Anthony, after he was “sold” to a wealthy American couple for adoption.
What became of him is a revelation, as is the ending, which, like so many true stories, is as dramatic as it could be.
Dench, as befits an Oscar winner and accomplished stage and screen actor, plays the role quietly, without over-egging an already rich repast, allowing the words and story to tell themselves.
Coogan seems to struggle to shed his Partridge role of baffled misfit but turns in a good performance, sensibly keeping his acting head down when Dench is around.
Most likely to be discomfited by the film is the Catholic Church whose inhumanity, callous greed and self-righteous drivel of the time, as portrayed in this story, are given centre stage and full spotlights.
The saddest thing is that while this is the story of one woman’s successful effort to trace her child, there are hundreds, if not thousands of other grim and shameful stories which remain as yet untold.
The film certainly has its weaknesses, but its message is clear and unmistakeable. Whatever people might think of ‘the media’ in general, there are times to be mighty glad there are journalists working on your side.