Great movie, atheist character...

[onager]

Probably old news to many of you. But I just caught this excellent movie on cable, which is based on a true story:

Philomena (2013)

A devout Irish Catholic woman (played by Judi Dench) and an atheist journalist search for her long-lost son.

This movie is full of surprises and I don't want to ruin any of them for you, so no *SPOILERS* or detailed plot descriptions.

Just to pique interest, I will drop in this bit. It happens when Philomena says she wants to go to Confession.

The reporter responds: "The Catholic Church should go to confession, not you. Forgive us Father for we have sinned. We kidnapped young women. Sentenced them to hard labor. And sold their babies to the highest bidder."



http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2431286/

[Warpy]

1. I never bought that she was a devout Catholic

I've met women who survived that horror show and all have had nothing but hatred for the church, and believe me, "hatred" is inadequate to describe the waves of fury I felt when the subject came up.

[deucemagnet]

2. I think this is available for streaming on Netflix, yes?

I'll have to put it in my favorites.

[mr blur]

3. Blank Frank meets Philomena

[Cartoonist]

4. Saw the book in the library today

The long lost son was a Bush operative. How did that play out in the film?

[onager]

7. True, he worked for the RNC...

Legal counsel to the Republican National Committee during the Reagan/Bush I administrations. And a deeply closeted gay man who died of AIDS.

Six (or maybe sixty) degrees of separation - one of Nancy Reagan's favorite decorators was Billy Haines. For those who don't know his story, it's interesting.

Haines was a successful actor until 1935, when the scandal rags outed him as gay. (After an arrest). MGM honcho Louis B. Mayer offered him a choice - a sham marriage or being fired. Haines took the firing, which ended his acting career. He and his life partner then started their design business and stayed together until Haines' death in 1973.

Story about Haines, not in the Wiki article: when sound came to the movies, Haines signed up for voice lessons. During one session, his voice coach criticized him for being "lip-lazy." Haines responded: "Well, I've never had any complaints."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Haines

[Cartoonist]

8. Caught it on cable

The same day I posted #4. I guess God does work in mysterious ways. (kidding).

I would say his politics gets a little more than minimal attention. His disaffection with Reagan over AIDS had an impact on his politics and his last years in life. Though maybe not much screen time, an important facet of his story.

[progressoid]

6. Yep. Saw it again last night.

Worth watching a second time. Also, it doesn't hurt that I like Dench and Coogan.

Minor thing. Wiki says...

Sixsmith has said that Coogan's portrayal of him shared his "intolerance of injustice in all walks of life", and his admiration for a woman like Philomena who has the strength to rise above this. However, he is less angry than his on-screen version and is an agnostic rather than an atheist.

We're getting three days of free movies from Encore or something. So last night we watched Lost Songs: The Basement Tapes Continued, Philomena, and then watched Species II. Probably should have stopped after Philomenia.