Martin Learns Patience

            Philomena likes to surprise the viewer with its humor when they least expect it. Philomena herself is an old Irish catholic woman who worked as a nurse for much of her life, these influences combined have made her both traditionally polite and modernly practical in her views. Martin on the other hand is oftentimes brusque or downright rude with a tendency towards sarcasm and wit. The duo manage to leave their audience tittering through some moments and gasping in delighted surprise at others.

Martin and Philomena’s first encounter gives a hint at the potential laughs while the two make small talk over lunch. Philomena tells Martin about her recent hip replacement saying “it’s titanium, so it wont rust.” Martin responds that it’s good that they won’t have to oil her like the tinman then. Philomena gets a confused look on her face and Martin attempts to explain his Wizard of Oz reference. Meeting only further confusion, he gives up and talks about his mother’s knee replacements instead. Philomena bursts into affected laughter as she expects more jokes and Martin takes his turn to act perplexed.

Another golden moment of the movie happens when Philomena first learns about her son through one of his friends. The friend is talking about her son when Philomena abruptly asks if he had any children. The friend gets apprehensive as she explains that Philomena’s son was gay. The viewer gets a perfect view of Philomena’s unflinching expression as she politely repeats her question. At this point the friend and Martin’s expressions show their fear that the old woman may not even know what gay means and the necessary explanation this would require. Philomena lets them and the audience stew for a full minute before she explains that she already expected he might be gay from his childhood personality and that she’s quite knowledgeable about gays from her work with male nurses.

            Martin does get his occasional one liners but most often succeeds as a poor patsy for Philomena’s antics. The movie ends this way with a scene of Philomena explaining in excruciating detail the plot of her most recent romance novel. After learning to respect Philomena throughout the movie, the viewer can feel Martin’s pain as he good-naturedly prompts her to continue her explanation of the book.