Peneflix MOVIE REVIEWS BY PENEFLIX
Cillian Murphy steps as far as possible away from his Academy Award winning performance as prodigious J. Robert Oppenheimer; he is a struggling Catholic coalman, father of four daughters, caught in a righteous dilemma revolving around his local convent, led by “Sister Mary” (Emily Watson is a worthy, threatening adversary). Based on the novel by Claire Keegan, directed by Tim Mielants, “Bill Furlong” (Murphy) grapples with his conscience, his past and obligations as a virtuous “Catholic”. It was a common practice in Ireland to cast unwed pregnant women into the infandous clutches of “devout” nuns who kept these women to term and gave their children up for adoption, with no accountability or recourse for the disgraced mothers. 2013’s “Philomena” traces the journey of Philomena Lee’s (Judi Dench) quest to find her son, Anthony, born in 1952 and adopted by an American family; for fifty years she sought him aided by BBC correspondent Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan); remarkability, tenacity rewarded by diligence and fate.
“Small Things Like These” is grounded by Murphy’s astoundingly quiet, mournful, painfully poignant depiction of a man refusing the clutches, decease, ruination of moral turpitude.
THREE & ½ STARS!!!
Peneflix
