Movie Review: Philomena

Movie Review: Philomena

Rated PG-13

95 minutes

Directed by Stephen Frears

Me: This should be rather fun. It looks fine, and it's getting Oscan Buzz, so I think I should go ahead and watch it. You know, #forthefans. Plus, I have some interest in it. I think it will be rather good.

Film: Nope.

Philomena is only serviceable. It does go directly up against the nuns in this film, which, by association, attacks the Catholic church. It is bold in that respect, but it doesn't go all the way. The impact seems softened, unfortunately. The story is intriguing, but there just seems to be something missing. It's just so cliche and safe for this kind of subject. It just lacks umph. There's no distinguishing touch from the director, there are no favors done from the script, and the cinematography, while having some beautiful shots, is nothing special. This film was also scored by one of my favorite composers, Alexandre Desplat, but unfortunately the score is virtually non-existent. You can never hear it at all, it just blend into the film, not in a good way, like Captain Phillips did. The score from Captain Phillips blended in to the film, but you were also aware of it, as the score complemented the film. However, the score here just gets swamped by everything else.

Another huge problem I had was with Steve Coogan's character. He just seemed like a person who gave Philomena the chance to find her son, but wasn't memorable. Steve Coogan does the best with what he has, but his character just seemed so arbitrary. He's just there to say yes, look up information, advance the plot, give a quip, and run. And Steve Coogan could've done something about it. He was a screenwriter for this film. He could've beefed up his role in this film, but Coogan just completely wastes himself. Which was odd.

It was serviceable, though. I did like Judi Dench in this film, however, she is not amazing, like I had heard. Steve Coogan does well with what he gave himself, which was not a lot. I did chuckle one or two times, but it wasn't a riot. The drama did somewhat work, even though it did feel somewhat contrived. I like the overall purpose of the film, and the flashbacks were handled admittedly well for a film that has flashbacks. It's good in the moment, just not memorable.

Philomena was a missed opportunity. It has a good set-up, good acting, serviceable cinematography, and it does handle some drama well. In the end, it just feels too safe to warrant a theatre visit. Rent it.

2.5/5

C