Philomena (2013)

4/5

Philomena is a tremendously tragic true story that pulls at your heartstrings and uplifts your spirit in profound ways. The movie follows Philomena (Dench) as an aging woman trying to reconnect with her adopted son, who was conceived out of wedlock and sold by the convent she was living in as a young woman. A reporter (Coogan) takes on the human interest story after he loses his job as a political correspondent and faces writer's block researching Russian history. So begins the unlikely duo's adventure to uncover the mystery of Philomena's lost son; and so begins their budding friendship.

The movie reveals pieces of information bit by bit to keep you hooked on the twisting, turning plot. The story alone is fascinating enough to make the movie engaging, but it is the performances that make the movie so compelling and ultimately so heartbreaking. We become intensely attached to the characters and we feel their pain and anger. The subject matter is challenging and difficult to stomach, but the pathos and humor infused into each character makes it all worthwhile. The actors reveal humanity at its best and its worst in portrayals that vibrate with truth and honesty. It is hard to separate yourself from the characters and their emotions once the film ends, but it gives us one of the most satisfying endings I can recall in recent memory. Philomena is a treasure to watch and to behold.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2431286/

The Queen (2006)

2/5

What a way to bring in the New Year than with a terrible movie, as is my usual habit. The Queen is supposed to be a stunning character study of Queen Elizabeth following Princess Diana's sudden death, but it ended up being a bland, plotless, meandering mess. It failed as a character study, since it spent surprisingly little time on the Queen and much more time on Tony Blair, her family, her aide, and their influences on her. I found her character to be rather shallow and uninteresting; she was merely a puppet that was being pushed and pulled by different people without fleshed-out characteristics that make her an individual. Subject-wise, it failed to interest me and did not even take the time to explain the characters and their motivations--its audience is limited to only those most interested in the Princess Diana controversy. The acting on all parts was amateurish and camera-shy, although it may be the fault of the director using poor takes. The editing was absolutely atrocious; it was almost as if they used Windows Movie Maker to do it. The music was so uninsightful and melodramatic that the realism was completely removed. In using archival footage, however, they attempted to mimic the realistic feel of United 93, but that movie succeeded on many more levels to bringing home the impact and the raw realism inherent in the depiction of true events.

The ending was surprisingly better than expected. Instead of ending on a simple, sappy note with Elton John singing Candle in the Wind, it added an epilogue scene that both gave its characters much more complexity and made a full turn-around and brought it back to the start (something I am quite fond of). The symbolism of the stag was interesting and worth analyzing. Also, the title shot gave me great expectations for the film (even though they did not live up to them). Wholly unrecommended, unless of course you are extremely entrenched in Diana pathos.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0436697/