‘PHILOMENA’

Director: Stephen Frears. Cast: Judi Dench, Steve Coogan, Sophie Kennedy Clark. Rating: PG-13 for some strong language, thematic elements and sexual references. Great Fair

Bad Good

Bomb be something there, so he and Philomena visit the abbey, where they are told all the records were destroyed in a fire. All except the contract Philomena signed saying she wouldn’t look into her son’s whereabouts.

This both intrigues and infuriates Sixsmith, who now goes after the story with gusto (and arrogance and rudeness). He and Philomena travel to Washington, D.C., to search for her son. What they find is maddening, heartbreaking and surprising. Yet Philomena takes it all in, including more information about the practices of the abbey, as well as the Reagan administration and others, with a sort of grace that is astonishing.

Too astonishing? Maybe, in the abstract. But Dench perfectly captures a woman whose belief is severely tested, more so than most of us can imagine, yet who comes out the other side with genuine faith. Sixsmith, an atheist, doesn’t quite know what to make of that, but he clearly admires it.

Coogan is also good, barely concealing Sixsmith’s exasperation with the chatty Philomena or his disdain for most everyone else. It’s an odd pairing, he and Dench, but it works.

“Philomena” could have been a sappy movie, but it’s not. Instead, with such assured performances, it’s proof that sometimes a laugh makes swallowing a big dose of outrage a little easier.