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Dear Frankie
Directed by: Shona Auerback
Starring: Emily Mortimer
Genre:
Drama
Run Time: 105
min.
Release Date: March
2005
On The Web:
Official
Site
Teaser:
Movie Trailer
Reviewed by
Byron Merritt |
DEAR FRANKIE is a
heartwarming tale about the deception a parent is willing to portray in
order to protect a child. Shot in Glasgow, Scotland by Director Shona
Auerbach with her husband operating as a cameraman, this movie’s strong
characters will tug at heartstrings in a very positive way.
The story is that of Frankie (Jack McElhone) and his mother Lizzie
(Emily Mortimer, MATCH POINT). Recently relocating to yet another
new city, Frankie immediately begins writing letters to his father again
as soon as he’s able. He’s been doing this for years and years, never
having met his father and only knowing — via his mum — that his dad is at sea
on a boat named the Accra. Frankie’s dad writes back often and
Frankie keeps track of his father’s movements around the world via a
large map posted above his bed. In addition to lacking an active father,
Frankie also can’t hear, being deaf (supposedly) since birth. This is an
additional challenge for him since he has to re-orient people to his
handicap every time they move to a new town. Classmates, store owners,
librarians, all of them have varying degrees of pity, anxiety, and
teasing that easily bounce off of Frankie’s prominent mental armor. He’s
a smart kid, and a “champion lip reader.”
But Frankie’s world is about to change once he learns that his father’s
ship is scheduled to port at the local docks of their new hometown!
Frankie is beside himself with joy, but his mother is strangely
downcast. And for good reason. Frankie’s father is not on
a ship at sea and never has been. Lizzie (his mum) has been writing
those letters back to Frankie, pretending to be his seafaring father.
She had no idea that a ship called the Accra even existed, and now she
must deal with its impending arrival and the unveiling of her lies to
her son.
Not willing to give-in that easily, Lizzie concocts a plan to have a
“Stranger” pose as Frankie’s father. She meets up with this dark but
handsome man that we come to know only as The Stranger (Gerard Butler,
BEOWULF &
GRENDEL) and promises him an amount of money if he’ll
pose, for a day, as her son’s father. The Stranger agrees, thus setting
up circumstances that will lead to a love that Frankie, Lizzie, or even
The Stranger thought impossible.
Young Jack McElhone gives a silent yet powerful performance as Frankie,
the boy who knows more than he ever lets on. His sweet role is a marvel.
Emily Mortimer gives a good performance as Lizzie, Frankie’s mum, but is
anchored even stronger in her character thanks to the handsome Gerard
Butler. Butler’s distant but involved portrayal of The Stranger is
pulled off exceptionally well, especially since, as the audience, we
know nothing about him before, during, or after his visit with Frankie
and Lizzie. We suspect several things, though (he may have had an absent
father, too, or had a bad relationship that ended in divorce like
Lizzie’s ...although we’re never given any information as such).
The only downer is the side-story relating to Frankie’s “real” father
who is dying of cancer. Perhaps it would have been best to keep any firm
father-figure (be it paternal or otherwise) distant from Frankie’s life,
or fleeting (as in The Stranger). The hospital scenes with Frankie’s
biological father felt forced and unnecessary.
Otherwise, this is a gem of a film that’ll make you smile, shed a few
tears, and be grateful there are Strangers among us who can fill the
ample shoes of fathers.
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Image from Dear Frankie
DVD cost: $23.99
Purchase:
BestPrices.com
Film Review Stew
Favorite? No.
Stew Poo-Poo? No.
Newsworthy:
The song that plays while
Lizzie (Emily Mortimer) is sitting on a bench crying after a fruitless
attempt to find a "daddy" for Frankie, is written by one of the most
famous contemporary Estonian composer - Arvo Paaumlrt.
Movie Quote: "You
have to face this sometime. Tell Frankie the truth."
Other Actors/Actresses
from Dear Frankie
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