Philomena

PhilomenaTonight, I went across the street to the Yale’s Whitney Humanities Center for a screening of the new film “Philomena” with Judi Dench and Steve Coogan, who also wrote and produced the movie.  Tender and traditionally told, the story centers on a not-too-bright Irish woman who longs to find the son taken from her as an unwed mother in a convent.

The stories of the ‘Magdalene Girls‘, as these young women came to be known, is a familiar one by now.  So you go to this one for the performances.  Dench, as ever, is tremendously subtle and sensitive.  The packed house stayed in its seats all through the credits, something I’m not used to in the movie theater.  Some things are just best left to a good ol’ storytelling.  Look for this one at Oscar time.

Exiting the theater, it’s back to the real world.  A poster had been slapped onto a light pole–man and dog murdered, $60,000 reward.