Rent Philomena (2013)

3.9 of 5 from 718 ratings
1h 37min
Rent Philomena Online DVD & Blu-ray Rental
  • General info
  • Available formats
Synopsis:
Falling pregnant as a teenager in Ireland in 1952, Philomena Lee (Judi Dench) was sent to the convent to be looked after as a "fallen woman". When a only a toddler, her baby was put up for adoption by nuns and whisked away to America. Philomena spent the next fifty years searching in vain until she met Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan), a journalist as cynical as Philomena was trusting. Together they set off on a hilarious and uplifting journey that would change their lives forever.
Actors:
, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Rachel Wilcock, , Tadhg Bowen
Directors:
Producers:
Steve Coogan, Tracey Seaward, Gabrielle Tana
Writers:
Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope, Martin Sixsmith
Others:
Steve Coogan, Alexandre Desplat, Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope
Studio:
20th Century Fox
Genres:
Drama
Collections:
10 Films to Watch If You Like Gosford Park, 10 Films to Watch if You Like Stan & Ollie, 2014, A Brief History of Films About Nuns, Acting Up: British Actresses at the Oscars, Award Winners, CinemaParadiso.co.uk Through Time, Films to Watch If You Like..., Ireland At the Oscars, A Brief History of Film..., The Instant Expert's Guide, The Instant Expert's Guide to Stephen Frears
Awards:

2014 BAFTA Best Adapted Screen Play

2013 Venice Film Festival Best Screen Play

BBFC:
Release Date:
24/05/2014
Run Time:
97 minutes
Languages:
English Audio Description Dolby Digital 2.0, English Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles:
English Hard of Hearing
DVD Regions:
Region 2
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen 1.85:1
Colour:
Colour
Bonus:
  • Feature Commentary by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope
  • The Journey of 'Philomena'
  • Theatrical Trailer
BBFC:
Release Date:
24/05/2014
Run Time:
97 minutes
Languages:
English Audio Description Dolby Digital 2.0, English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Subtitles:
English Hard of Hearing
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen 1.85:1
Colour:
Colour
BLU-RAY Regions:
B
Bonus:
  • Feature Commentary by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope
  • The Journey Of Philomena
  • Steve Coogan Q&A
  • The Real Philomena
  • A Conversation with Judi Dench
  • Theatrical Trailer

More like Philomena

Reviews (8) of Philomena

great film - Philomena review by CP Customer

Spoiler Alert
08/08/2014

This is a great film, that tells the story very well, of a mother trying to find the lost son she gave up for adoption when he was a baby. She hires a reporter to help her find him . A story worth watching .

4 out of 4 members found this review helpful.

Unexpected enjoyable film - Philomena review by CP Customer

Spoiler Alert
24/08/2014

Got this for the wife to watch but I also enjoyed it good to see Alan partridge in a straight role and Jodie Dench is great. Good general film.

2 out of 2 members found this review helpful.

Worth a watch - Philomena review by CP Customer

Spoiler Alert
27/09/2014

I really enjoyed this film. Although it deals with a pretty depressing subject it does so with a light touch and is quite amusing in parts. Coogan and Dench are very good in it.

2 out of 2 members found this review helpful.

Critic review

Philomena review by George Hooper - Cinema Paradiso

I knew going into Philomena that I would like it. After all it stars Judi Dench and Steve Coogan and it tells the true and incredibly personal true story of the titular Philomena (Dench) as she strives to find the son that was taken from her over half a century ago.

However the film mainly follows Martin Sixsmith (Coogan), a British spin doctor who finds himself fired from government and trying to find his way after his unceremonious dismissal. When he is told Philomena’s story he sees an opportunity to reinvent himself through their investigation as they travel to Ireland and Washington DC to find the truth of what really happened to Philomena’s child.

Hailed as the film to beat at the Baftas this year, Philomena definitely lives up to the hype as Dench and Coogan compliment each other with their very different personas with Philomena being a gentle hearted Irish woman who has spent years repenting for her perceived sins and Martin being an aggressive atheist, an angry man with good reason to be.

The film while based on a search for family is really a discussion of faith and it handles this search for identity through religion with care as Martin and Philomena find themselves trying unintentionally to persuade each other one way or the other. In fact director Stephen Frears (High Fidelity) uses the films delightfully subversive script (Cowritten by Coogan) to emphasises one key element of the film that differentiates Philomena from all the other emotionally dense films of its genre. Martin and Philomena are never really close, they never connect in the way you would expect and while some may be offended or think the film lacked that bond it adds a sense of reality, an idea that these two people are performing a task, a task that while mutually beneficial doesn’t meant they have to like each other.

The film gets some of its best moments from the sense of debate between the two and without it the film would be dead in the water. Clever, bittersweet yet heartwarming at the same time, Philomena is easily the best British film this year and it would be hard to beat when the Baftas finally do come around

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