Will ‘Philomena’ Earn Judi Dench Another Oscar Nomination?

Philomena
Judi Dench and Steve Coogan star in ‘Philomena’ (Photo by Alex Bailey © 2013 The Weinstein Company)

Watch the trailer for The Weinstein Company’s Philomena and decide whether this drama, based on a true story, will propel Dame Judi Dench to her seventh acting Oscar nomination. It’s the sort of story Academy voters love (plays well to an older audience, is dramatic, and pulls on your heartstrings), so I’m going out on a limb now to say Dame Dench will have the Weinstein Company’s backing when it comes time to promote individual performances for awards consideration.

Philomena starts its awards run on November 22, 2013.

The Plot: Based on the 2009 investigative book by BBC correspondent Martin Sixsmith, The Lost Child of Philomena Lee, Philomena focuses on the efforts of Philomena Lee (Dench), mother to a boy conceived out of wedlock — something her Irish-Catholic community didn’t have the highest opinion of — and given away for adoption in the United States. In following church doctrine, she was forced to sign a contract that wouldn’t allow for any sort of inquiry into the son’s whereabouts.

After starting a family years later in England and, for the most part, moving on with her life, Lee meets Sixsmith (Steve Coogan), a BBC reporter with whom she decides to discover her long-lost son.