Philomena

On Tuesday, December 17, 2013, I went to see the movie Philomena featuring Judi Dench and Steve Coogan.

This story is about Philomena Lee, a retired nurse, who has kept a secret for fifty years.  When she was young, she was had given birth to a son.  However, being an unwed mother, she was forced to sign away her rights to being his parent and to never look for him.  She also served as an indentured servant to the convent at Roscrea.  In the movie, it was said that the convent at Roscrea is in the Sacred Heart order, but maybe that was fictionalized for the film.

The daughter of Philomena was working at a cocktail party as a waitress when she overheard that Martin Sixsmith might be looking to write a human interest story.  Martin Sixsmith was going through some rough patches due to politics.

What happens?  You will have to watch the movie to find out.  However, I thought this was a very well done movie.  Worth the watch.

The Book Thief

On Tuesday, December 10, 2013, I went to see the movie The Book Thief, featuring Geoffrey Rush, Emma Watson and Sophie Nélisse.

The story is about Liesel, who was put into the care of foster parents, due to unknown reasons.  Some say that her mother was a communist, but we don't know for sure.  She is illiterate.

During her life under care of two adoptive parents, Hans and Rosa (Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson), she goes to school, learns to read and becomes a family.

As the story progresses, Hans takes into care a young man named Max, who was escaping from Kristelnacht.  It appears that Max's father was in the first world war with Hans and died protecting Hans.  So, he made a promise that should Max or his mother require assistance, he would help him/them.

What happens in the rest of the story?  You'll have to watch the movie or read the book to find out.

Delivery Man

On Tuesday, December 3, 2013, I went to see the movie Delivery Man, featuring Vince Vaughn.

This is the Hollywood adaptation of the Quebecois movie, Starbuck, which was released about two years ago.

The story is the same...  It is about David Wozniak, who works for the family meat business being a bit of financial trouble.  He owes some money to some loan sharks...  And on top of it, he also discovers, due to a mix up at a fertility clinic years ago where he donated to, that he is the biological father of 533 children, some of whom are suing against the confidentiality clause, so that they can meet their father.

The story is about his journey from before Starbuck to wrapping his head around being the father of 533 children and trying to deal with that along with his family.

The original was good, so this was good.  It literally is a word-for-word translation from the original.