DVD Corner

Philomena Blu-ray Review

“Philomena” is a surprising and emotional biodrama.

After losing his Government job, journalist Martin Sixsmith sets out to find new work. He soon gets a job opportunity when a woman named Jane approaches Martin to do a human interest story on her mother Philomena. While initially hesitant about doing a human interest piece, Martin eventually decides to take on the job. As we (the audience) learn, Philomena was sent Sean Rose Abbey as a teenager after becoming pregnant. During her stay, her son (Anthony) was sold to a married couple without her consent or knowledge. For the past 50 years, she has tragically not been able to find or see her son. Now, with the help of Martin, she hopes they can finally track down her son.

“Philomena,” which is based on the life of the real Philomena Lee, is a biopic that doesn’t feel like your average biopic. Instead of glossing over the life of the film’s subject as so many biopics do, “Philomena” is a very focused and poignant piece about injustice, truth, love, family, forgiveness, and the Catholic Church. The film is a snapshot of certain pivotal moments of Philomena’s life and it never once feels like an exploitive cash-in on her incredible true life story. The script (written by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope) is always respectful to Philomena Lee while also being heartbreaking, funny, and rewarding all at once.

As impressive as the screenplay is, it’s the performances that make the material come to life.  Judi Dench gives one of the best performances of her career as Philomena Lee. She makes you forget that she is playing a character which is just about the highest compliment one can give a performer.  Steve Coogan is, well, Steve Coogan, but there’s nothing wrong with that. He makes a great opposite to Philomena and gives the film humor amidst the often serious subject matters.  Truth be told, I find myself more impressed by the fact that Coogan co-wrote this motion picture alongside Jeff Pope. Considering he’s known for scripting comedies like “I’m Alan Partridge,” this is a real departure for him. Hopefully, he’ll start tackling more projects like this in the near future as he obviously has a knack for it now.

Video/Audio:

Presentation: 1.78:1 1080p. How does it look? From the Irish countryside location shooting to the Maryland locals, this hi-def transfer is nothing short of excellent

Audio Track: 5.1 DTS-HD MA. How does it sound? This film is primarily a dialogue and score driven affair so there’s not a ton going on audio wise. With that said, this DTS track handles everything quite well. I didn’t detect any issues.

Extras:
* Digital HD copy.
* The Weinstein Company trailers.
* “A Conversation With Judi Dench”- Dame Judi Dench talks about her acting career, the past, theater, live TV, her film work, the character of M in the James Bond series, and more.
* “The Real Philomena Lee”- “Philomena” cast and crew members and the real Philomena Lee are interviewed in this short featurette.
* “Q&A With Steve Coogan”- Timothy Blake moderates this 24 minute Q&A with actor/writer Steve Coogan from a Guild screening. Coogan chats about how the project came about, the differences between the book and the film, stories about the pre-production process, and, of course, cracks some jokes. Definitely the best extra here.
* Commentary by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope. Expect lots of discussion about the screenplay, facts about the production, the score, shooting locations, and much more.

Overall Thoughts: “Philomena” may not be the type of film you’d ever want to re-watch, but it’s essential to see once.

April 12, 2014 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Blu-Ray review | Judi Dench, Philomena Blu-ray Review, Philomena Lee, Steve Coogan