Philomena

 

Based on the 2009 investigative book by BBC correspondent Martin Sixsmith, The Lost Child of Philomena Lee, Philomena  focuses on the efforts of Philomena Lee (Dench), mother to a boy conceived out of wedlock - something her Irish-Catholic community didn't have the highest opinion of - and given away for adoption in the United States. In following church doctrine, she was forced to sign a contract that wouldn't allow for any sort of inquiry into the son's whereabouts. After starting a family years later in England and, for the most part, moving on with her life, Lee meets Sixsmith (Coogan), a BBC reporter with whom she decides to discover her long-lost son.

Right from the start I thought this was going to be a blatant heart string pulling movie.  I kept laughing about how they thought that they would pull the wool over the eyes and the big reveal would be that the reporter was her son and how telegraphed it ended up being.  However, I was dead wrong.  I guess the swerve was that the movie did not play out like that.  It ended up being a very touching story with two amazing characters and how they were on this journey together for very different reasons and both came away from it for the better.  As much press as Judi Dench gets just like always, Steve Coogan put forth an awesome acting performance in this movie and was so beyond believable/relatable for me. 

I would absolutely recommend people checking this movie out.  It was a very good watch and had a great hook into making you fully care about the travels of these two characters.