Dear Frankie (2004)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Shona Auerbach

Writer:

Andrea Gibb (screenplay)

Release Date:

16 March 2005 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

After having responded to her son's numerous letters in the guise of his father, a woman hires a stranger to pose as his dad when meeting him.

Plot Keywords:

Stranger | Letter | Sailor | Deaf Boy | Ship

Awards:

8 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Emily Mortimer	...	Lizzie
Jack McElhone	...	Frankie
Mary Riggans	...	Nell
Sharon Small	...	Marie
Sophie Main	...	Serious Girl
Katy Murphy	...	Miss MacKenzie
Sean Brown	...	Ricky Monroe
Jayd Johnson	...	Catriona
Anna Hepburn	...	Headmistress
Rony Bridges	...	Post Office Clerk
Douglas Stewart Wallace	...	Stamp Shop Keeper
Elaine M. Ellis	...	Librarian (as Elaine Mackenzie Ellis)
Carolyn Calder	...	Barmaid
John Kazek	...	Ally
Gerard Butler	...	The Stranger

Also Known As:

Natural History (UK) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for language.

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | British Sign Language

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:12 (video rating) (2005) | UK:12A (edited for re-rating) | UK:15 (original rating) | Malaysia:U | Finland:K-7 | Iceland:LH | Iceland:LH (video rating) | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Hong Kong:I | Netherlands:AL | USA:PG-13 | Brazil:10 | Spain:13 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Buchanan Street Stamps, Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland, UK

Company:

Pathé Pictures International

Trivia:

Jack McElhone (Frankie) is not deaf but worked with a speech coach so that his one spoken line would sound correct.

Goofs:

Continuity: In one of Frankie's letters to his dad, the text of the letter does not correspond to the voiceover. We hear Frankie say, "Ricky Munroe told me. Trust him to put his big feet right in it." but the letter reads, "Trust him to put his size threes right in it."

Quotes:

The Stranger: Frankie's a very... very lucky boy.
Lizzie: How'd you figure that one out? I'm his mother and I lie to him every single day.
The Stranger: No. No, you protect him every single day

Soundtrack:

Lost in the Shuffle

A Heart-Tugging Family Romance

"Dear Frankie" is a heart-tugging family romance with decidedly non-Hollywood touches that add to its charm and poignancy.

We are swept into both sides of an unusual epistolary relationship -- one between a mother and son, as each takes on alternative identities to communicate, and we get to hear their adopted voices as well.

The son is an isolated deaf kid who won't talk but pours out his heart in letters, while his fiercely protective mother pretends to be his fictional seagoing dad in response. We are drawn into their parallel stories from each perspective, as their defensively claustrophobic relationship has an outlet in this fictional geography as they gradually start dealing with the real world.

Emily Mortimer combines strength and naked vulnerability, as she did in "About Adam" and "Lovely and Amazing," while the son is captivating in an almost mimed role without being as treacly as the kid playing Peter in "Finding Neverland." Debut director Shona Auerbach keeps the movie tethered to reality with evocative use of Glasgow and its active port. We are anchored in a working class bloke territory that becomes a rocky shore for an untethered single mom living with her mother and her kid. This is tellingly symbolized when Mortimer braves a rough waterfront bar.

And then re-emphasized in a hotel tea parlor whose atmosphere electrically changes the minute rugged Gerard Butler pops up on screen. Epitomizing that cinematic manliness that is so talked about as lacking from most American actors these days, Butler's absolutely authentic masculinity instantly telescopes what this mother and child have been missing, and not just his sexual gravitas. Butler movingly demonstrates how a guy's guy plays paternal through such simple things as football, skipping stones, eating and of course dancing.

I don't know if I missed the clues to the concluding twists, but Hollywood would never let these lovely mysteries be, let alone as an achingly long look into each's eyes.

It's nice to see faces from Scottish TV shows in atypical roles, Sharon Small deservedly having a steady boyfriend on screen for a change, and Cal Macaninch, the nice guy from "Rockface" as the not nice guy here.

The Scots accents are thick and I did miss some punch lines in the dialog here and there.

The song selections are lovely, including a Damien Rice track that hasn't been overused yet.