Tag: Judi Dench

Don’t Miss “Philomena” (Short Review)

Coogan DenchIf you missed Philomena (2013) when it was in theaters, do not make the same mistake now that it is available on video. While the Academy Award Best-Picture nominee may not have garnered the attention of films like American Hustle, 12 Years a Slave, and Gravity, the relatively modest story of a woman searching for her child given up for adoption is one of the best films in recent years.

Philomena is based on the true story of Philomena Lee, played in the movie by Judi Dench, who after becoming pregnant as a young woman in Ireland in the 1950s, is sent to live at an abbey where the nuns give away her child. The movie, based on the book The Lost Child of Philomena by journalist Martin Sixsmith, follows her quest many years later to find out what happened to the child. In the search, she engages the help of Sixsmith, played by Steve Coogan, who also co-wrote the screenplay and co-produced the movie. The movie follows this odd couple and their two different motivations to reach the same goal.

I do not want to tell more about the story in case you have not read about it or have forgotten what you heard when the movie was out. But the movie accomplishes the rare feat of making you laugh, cry, and think. Coogan, who is popular in the UK but a bit of an undiscovered talent in the U.S., has shown his great humor skills in other films (and his talent for imitating Michael Caine). Here, he brings a sense of humor to Philomena, while also maintaining a level of seriousness and respect for the subject.

In addition to the Oscar nomination for Best Picture, the film garnered nominations for Best Actress, Adapted Screenplay, and Original Score. The movie makes some minor dramatic changes from the book, such as making the book’s author one of the main characters, but it does an excellent job of tracing the heart of the true story. For more on the real Philomena, check out this article from The Atlantic.

Conclusion? Philomena is not a blockbuster with a lot of action, but you likely will be delighted by this clever and touching film. Below is the trailer for the movie, although beware that it reveals some additional facts about the story.

What did you think of Philomena? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    J. Edgar (Short Review)

    j. edgar
    J. Edgar Hoover’s long career in the FBI spanned a number of significant historical events, and the new film about the man, J. Edgar (2011), captures some of the scope of that history while trying to understand a very complicated person. In the film, we see terrorist activity from the early twentieth century through the gangster era into the Depression through the Lindbergh baby kidnapping and the Civil Rights movement through Kennedy’s assassination, until finally Hoover’s paranoia is passed onto the incoming president Richard M. Nixon. It is a big span for a movie, but Director Clint Eastwood never loses sight of its goal of telling the story of the main character.

    When I first heard Leonardo DiCaprio was going to play Hoover, my initial reaction was to think he was miscast. While some critics may still believe that (and also criticize the makeup on the aging characters), DiCaprio does a surprisingly excellent job filling the shoes of the larger-than-life Hoover. DiCaprio is one of the few actors who could convincingly play Hoover at a young age and at old age.

    Judi Dench plays Hoover’s domineering mother, and Naomi Watts plays Hoover’s long-time secretary. But much of the movie focuses on the relationship between Hoover and his longtime assistant, Clyde Tolson, played well by Armie Hammer. Many speculate that Hoover and Tolson had a romantic relationship, and the film focuses on Hoover as a repressed man. Whether or not they had a physical relationship, their close bond, among Hoover’s other repressions, is one of the devices used to try to understand Hoover’s secretive nature and interest in the sexual lives of others.

    While not perfect, the movie was fascinating, thoughtful, entertaining, and informative. Although the movie jumps back and forth through time, Eastwood was masterful in doing it in a way that never seemed confusing. But while I was never bored, watching the film is not necessarily a pleasurable experience. If there is a weakness in J. Edgar, it is that you have to spend two plus hours with someone who is not very likeable. Even when Hoover was doing some things that benefited the country and busting criminals, he seems less like a hero and more like a troubled person who happened to do some heroic things as a side effect.

    Conclusion? J. Edgar is a very entertaining film that is epic in scope but personal in focus. If you do not mind spending time in the company of an unlikeable character as long as the character is interesting, and if you are curious about American history, you will like this movie.

    Check out some other reviews because why should you listen to me? The Rotten Tomatoes website currently indicates a low critic rating of 40% with a higher audience approval of 66%. Mike Giuliano of ExploreHoward.com calls the movie “a worthwhile character study that’s able to transcend its various flaws.” On Flick Filosopher, Maryann Johanson, by contrast, concludes that the film “is too staid and static, and too unfocused, to make us feel much of anything at all.”

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