Philomena

A film with moments of comedy, co-written by and starring Steve Coogan, 'Alpha Papa' was released in 2013. But lo, I jest. 'Philomena' is perhaps a turning point in Coogan's career, having spent much of his time on the silver screen in self-admittedly poor films popping up alongside snorty-snorty friends in bit-part roles in Hollywood crap. While comedy is indeed an element in the film, 'Philomena' is potentially the start of a maturing for Coogan, as he moves towards making the films he'd probably like to make, rather than end up in.

'Based on true events', lead, Judi Dench, plays Philomena, an elderly Irish woman living in London who, on the day that would be his fiftieth birthday, wants to locate her son, taken from her and adopted while she was in a convent in her teenage years. Having no luck herself, a chance encounter with journalist Martin Sixsmith (Coogan) leads him to help her in her search; his career having taken a backward step.

As with any one-on-one film, the pair are opposites: Philomena a devout Catholic, believing in the good in people; Martin a cynical atheist, with little belief in anything. Seeing the story as a possible career boost, he uses his contacts to fund the search and publish the story, inevitably learning more about life than a simple 'human interest' story.

For Dench, it was probably always inevitable that the reviews would be strong and the award nominations would follow. Though for Coogan, the reception was a little less obvious, writing and acting in a much more serious role. In terms of acting, despite the odd slightly cringe-worthy moment, he does a good job playing a job role he so loathes, while the writing - alongside Jeff Pope - is strong, finding a good balance between sentimentality and comedy in adapting Sixsmith's book.

'Philomena' will add another strong performance to Dench's long list of roles, while 2013 has been a big year in terms of Coogan's career, possibly putting Partridge to bed with a film and moving into more serious acting roles in 'The Look of Love' and now 'Philomena' and it will be interesting to see which direction it moves next, though it seems clear he would like more critical acclaim than laughs from now. That said, intentional or not, one comes away feeling more entertained than heartbroken by the film's conclusion.