One of the more buzzed-about titles from Venice was Philomena, the latest film from Stephen Frears (The Queen). It tells the true story of an older woman (Judi Dench) trying to hunt down the son she had to give up when she was only 18. Steve Coogan (who co-wrote the script) plays the journalist writing an article about her quest. My impression is that this true story is much better known in the U.K. than it is in the U.S., so for us in the States, Philomena will play a little more like a detective story. I caught the film in Toronto, and my review is up at Paste.
