Reviews for this film from our members:
- Marco Albanese @ Stanze di Cinema [Italian]
- Excerpt: Con una storia così emozionante e coinvolgente, affidata a due attori superbi e ad un regista di grande esperienza, il film finisce per scorrere magnifico, senza una nota stonata.
- Rick Aragon @ Rick’s Cafe Texan
- Edwin Arnaudin @ Ashvegas
- Excerpt: Philomena’s contrasting personalities likewise inspire plenty of light and/or awkward moments, ones that Coogan in his co-writer role isn’t afraid to play up. A master comedian capable of inducing breathless bouts of laughter in films like “The Trip,” here he knows how to balance just the right amount of humor into what’s a fairly serious situation.
- Tim Brayton @ Antagony & Ecstasy
- Excerpt: It has no idea whatsoever what tone it wants to adopt towards its subject matter, and even less towards the character of Philomena.
- Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ SpiritualityandPractice.com
- Excerpt: A spiritual drama about the dynamics of faith, forgiveness, hope, and love; one of the Best Films of 2013 with an Academy Award caliber performance by Judi Dench.
- Samuel Castro @ Ochoymedio.info [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Una comedia dramática que recrea una historia real, y que funciona gracias a la química entre sus dos actores protagónicos
- Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Star Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope have adapted Sixmith’s book ‘The Lost Child of Philomena Lee’ as an odd couple road movie with flashbacks recalling Peter Mullen’s 2002 Venice Film Festival winner “The Magdalene Sisters.”
- Edwin Davies @ A Mighty Fine Blog
- Excerpt: There is a slightly misjudged tendency for Frears to turn scenes of introspection into ones in which people just stare off into the middle distance, but Dench is able to say so much with a slight twitch of a cheek that she redeems the film in the times when it doesn’t knowing how to convey what its characters are thinking.
- [New – 3/13/14] | Carlos del Río @ El rincón de Carlos del Río [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Stephen Frears en sus grandes películas logra mucha emoción con dos ingredientes: un buen guión y buenos actores. “Philomena” tiene ambos.
- Mark Dujsik @ Mark Reviews Movies
- Excerpt: Both of these characters are realized and performed so well that one would be hard-pressed to definitively say whose story this actually is…
- Susan Granger @ www.susangranger.com
- Excerpt: A poignant testament on the integrity of the human spirit, capturing on guilt-riddled Irishwoman’s eloquent faith in the essential goodness of people.
- Mark Hobin @ Fast Film Reviews
- Excerpt: The saving grace is Judi Dench’s performance which never makes her an object of derision, despite the screenplay’s occasional attempts to label her as such. Philomena endures as a model of decency and compassion.
- MaryAnn Johanson @ FlickFilosopher.com
- Excerpt: A cry-till-you-laugh-dramedy about seeking lost family and finding new purpose; Judi Dench and Steve Coogan are fantastic. Seriously, though: bring Kleenex.
- Daniel Kelly @ Danland Movies
- Excerpt: This British production brushes the heartstrings during its smartly constructed 98 minutes, occasionally soliciting a tear or tickling out a laugh.
- Benjamin Kramer @ The Voracious Filmgoer
- Paulo Peralta @ CinEuphoria [Portuguese]
- [New – 3/13/14] | Jason Pirodsky @ Expats.cz
- Excerpt: Tackling a heartbreaking story with a light – but never incongruous – touch that reflects its titular character’s outlook on life, this Oscar-nominated drama is a real winner and welcome return to form for its director.
- Jamie S. Rich @ DVD Talk
- Excerpt: Philomena is really a performance movie. The writing is fine, as is the staging, but the true appeal is watching Coogan and Dench together on the screen.
- Jerry Roberts @ Armchair Cinema
- Excerpt: Philomena is a very moving film. It is touching when it needs to be, humorous when it’s appropriate and comes to an ending that never feels like a manipulation.
- Jose Solis @ StageBuddy
- Frank Swietek @ One Guys Opinion
- Excerpt: Spry, funny, poignant and surprisingly wise.
