"Philomena"

Unwed mothers in Ireland, their parents disown them, they turn to a local order of Nuns for help and support. They know that the time will come when they have to give up their child. But when the child is born, they stay at the convent for a couple of years and naturally, quite an attachment is formed. One cannot imagine the heartbreak that they go through.

One such mother is Philomena, a woman who was parted from her boy some 50 years previous, and now after all that time is keen to see him, and explain her actions. She has remained in constant contact with the convent, but alas they have been unable to provide any information that will reunite her with her son. Through fortune she meets up  Martin Sixsmith, a former BBC news reporter, who had a falling out with the Government, and is now at a bit of loss work wise. Though doing human interest piece is not normally his thing, he decides to help Philomena in her quest to be reunited with her son.

Sixsmith is at a loss as to why the Convent is not being more forthcoming in wanting to help, and how a lot of the records were conveniently destroyed in a fire, then he finds out the reason why. He also finds out that the boy, and another girl, were given to a wealthy couple from the United States. From here Sixsmith is able to use some of his US contacts to see if they can help shed any light.

There are a few surprises along the way, for anyone who is not familiar with the story, and has not done any reading up on it in advance. For that reason it is difficult to go into any more detail about the story without ruining it for potential future viewers of the film.

But rest assured that it is a truly remarkable story, brilliantly written by Jeff Pope and Steve Coogan. And Mr. Coogan is on equally good form as Martin Sixmith, not the usual kind of role that one has come to expect, and though there may be moments of humour within the performance, it is certainly a more serious role for him, and one that he does very well.
But of course, it is Dame Judi who excels as the mother desperate to see her son. Just such a beautiful performance, as one would expect from one of our finest actresses. I would think that an Oscar nomination will come her way next January.

The main thing that struck me was the power of Philomena's religion, in that she was still able to forgive the nuns who deprived her of 50 years with her son. A quite remarkable woman indeed.

Another great example of top quality film making ......8 out of 10

"The Counsellor"

What a combination......an amazing cast, Directing legend Ridley Scott, and a screenplay from Cormac McCarthy, who wrote "No Country for Old Men", surely a match made in heaven........

Alas far from it. And it is the mighty pen that fails here. The story is rather lacking, and whilst being a dialogue piece, what made the Oscar winning "No Country" so successful was that it was compelling viewing, it did not need big action scenes, the sharp words, great characters and brilliant performances are what made it the hit it became. And unfortunately that has not reoccured with "The Counsellor".

The Counsellor works for some dubious characters, especially Reiner, a drug dealer who has many deals in the making. Through  circumstances, the Counsellor is believed to be involved in a heist which sees the theft of a high quantity of drugs. The owners of the drugs naturally assume that the Counsellor is involved, and slowly he sees the world around him begin to fall apart.

Given the talent involved with the film, this should have been a movie to keep you glued to your seat, but it wasn't. There is a great look to the film, compliments to Mr. Scott for that.
There is no doubting the capabilities of the highly talented cast, but they can only be given a chance to shine if the material they are working with is of high quality,The look of the character, Reiner, played by Javier Bardem, had me hooked after watching the trailer, and as one would imagine, he does give a fantastic performance.

Similarly to McCarthy's earlier work, "No Country", it is surprising how many of the lead characters do not make it to the end of the picture, and there are some interesting demises. But on the whole it was a rather disappointing effort.

Ok but have seen far better...............6 out of 10