Dear Frankie
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Movie Reviews of Dear Frankie
Movie Review: Wonderful and powerful in its simplicity
Summary: 5 Stars
Because DEAR FRANKIE is a limited release, many of us have to drive a while to find a theater that is showing it. The 25 mile drive I took was completely worth it.
Emily Mortimer plays Lizzie, who has been writing letters under the guise of her estranged husband to her deaf son, Frankie, for years. In writing the letters many things are accomplished. Frankie gets to feel like he has some contact with his dad and Lizzie gets to hear the innermost thoughts and wishes of her son through the letters she reads and answers.
When Lizzie, Frankie, and grandma Nell arrive in a new town, they befriend Marie. They also learn that the Accra--the ship on which Frankie thinks his dad lives--is docking near their town. With Marie's help, Lizzie encounters "The Stranger" and pays him to pretend to be Frankie's dad for one day.
Now I have seen a couple of critics find fault in casting Gerard Butler as The Stranger, thinking him too cold and gruff for the role. If these critics had watched the movie closer, they would've seen that the role called for gruffness at the beginning. However, Frankie has the same affect on The Stranger as he has on everyone else--making people want to be better and thawing out their chilly dispositions.
By the end of the movie everyone has learned something. Frankie has learned some truths through his mother and discovered others on his own. Lizzie learns to open up to others a little more. We learn who The Stranger actually is and, though we don't know anything about his past, we know that he has probably been emotionally shut down for a long time.
Like many, I went to see it because I wanted to see Gerard Butler, but I can honestly say that once the movie started (and he doesn't appear until about 45 minutes into the film) I was so engrossed in the story that the original reason didn't even exist anymore.
I have never seen Emily Mortimer in a film before (except her tiny part in Notting Hill,) but I was very impressed with the heart and realism that she brought to her role, as well as the actress who played her mother. Young Jack McElhone was especially impressive. You could see why his mother wanted to protect him so much and you could understand why The Stranger wanted to extend the time he spent with him.
Critic Roger Ebert mentioned a scene in a doorway with Lizzie and The Stranger. He talked about the way a powerful scene does not need a lot of dialogue. I watched especially for that scene and completely agreed with his comments on its profundity. This was a beautiful film and I'm so glad that I saw it. It was sweet, simple, real, and powerful in many ways. It was the kind of film that will stay with you for several days. That is what good film-making is all about and it is refreshing to see one as high quality as DEAR FRANKIE. Enjoy-
Movie Review: Beautifully Crafted
Summary: 5 Stars
The people who made this gem of a film have every right to be proud of it. It's a beautiful story, told in a very restrained and effective way. It's wonderfully crafted artistically, and the performances are all just excellent.
Much of the story is not told through the dialogue, but rather through visual images, bits of Scottish scenery that only someone who lived there would know, and through the expressions that flow across the faces of the actors. Although Shona Auerbach didn't get gimmicky about it at all, I had a sense that she wanted us to get a little feel for just how much Frankie (the title character is a deaf boy) could know what was going on, just by seeing the expressions of the people around him.
For example, there's a lovely moment where, just by the way the characters chew on bits of candy, you can read volumes about what they are thinking and feeling. In a later scene, Lizzie (the mom) reveals something shocking and painful about Frankie's history (I won't say what). There is a very long moment where the stranger doesn't say a word, but in that long moment there is this incredibly complex parade of emotions that comes across his face, from shock, to pity, to sorrow, to anger, and then to a profound respect. It's a powerful, pivotal moment in the film, and Auerbach and her cast handle it brilliantly.
Emily Mortimer (Lizzie) easily sidestepped all the cliches that could have come into her role, playing this mom who has been deeply wounded, who has a HARD time trusting anyone or anything, but who is despite herself wearing her heart on her sleeve. You care about this woman and you champion her cause, even though even she knows that she's doing all the wrong things.
Jack McElhone (Frankie) takes a kid who could be just a little TOO perfect, and makes him believable and real. He is a remarkable find and I look forward to seeing what he does next.
As for Gerard Butler (the stranger), I think this is the best work he's done to date. He's already demonstrated uncanny versatility in other roles, and I had been thinking that he has the stuff to become a top-notch actor, given some better opportunities and the right challenges. His work here proves that he already IS a remarkable actor - not only one of the most talented working at this time, but also one of the most SKILLED.
The story itself is very simple, and in less skilled hands, it could have been overly sentimental. As handled here, it is memorable and very, very dear. And for the record, I studied and worked in theatre for several years, so I know a little about the level of artistry that is showcased here. These are all careers to watch.
Movie Review: Dear Frankie, on its Way to Your Heart
Summary: 5 Stars
2/22/2005
One of four films showcased at this month's Portland International Film Festival, Dear Frankie had already created quite a buzz at Cannes, where it elicited a 15-minute standing ovation. Showings at the Sedona, AZ and Cleveland, OH Festivals in March will round out the pre-release schedule for this film fest favorite. This quiet little film from Scotland is impossible not to like, as it observes without judging the interplay between a struggling single mom and her deaf son, and the stranger she has drawn in to support a lie she has perpetrated in order to protect him.
Much to the chagrin of her more practical mother, Lizzie has concocted a full-blown fantasy of a romantic sailor and maritime adventures to explain the physical lack of a father in Frankie's life. She took the name ACCRA from a stamp and has the boy track this imaginary ship and write letters to a PO Box, which she then collects herself and answers in the absent father's name. Predictably, a ship by that name comes into port one day, and Lizzie, rather than dash her son's carefully-protected beliefs, chooses a stranger to stand in for the prodigal dad for 24 hours.
Emily Mortimer portrays the selfless mom with a matter-of-factness that precludes any semblance of cloying sentimentality. Her all-too-familiar plight does not pigeon-hole her as a victim, but rather allows her to be the hero of her own story. And Jack MacElhone plays her 9-year-old son with such guileless directness and humor that there is simply no feeling sorry for him.
The heart of the movie, however, is in the developing relationship between Frankie and the Stranger, aptly played by Gerard Butler, last seen emoting spectacularly as the Phantom of the Opera in a tour de force of song and angst. Here, in a very restrained and nuanced performance, Mr. Butler manages to establish such a strong presence that it is literally palpable even when his character is off-screen. Frankie blossoms at the inclusion of a tangible father figure in his life, and he and the Stranger manage to convey a depth of emotion without resorting to dialogue. This is a subtle form of acting by implication.
This is Shona Auerbach's directorial debut, and it is an auspicious one. Her background in still photography is evident in the gorgeous cinematography, but it is the simple story-telling and the characters that drive the film. Dear Frankie avoids the platitudes and pitfalls of a potentially overwrought theme and provides fresh insights in an almost casual manner. We can only hope that Ms. Auerbach will continue to shed her clear and sympathetic light on other social issues in future films.
Movie Review: Beautiful and touching
Summary: 5 Stars
I will not start with the usual plot synopsis, as other reviewers have already done that. I will just say that this is a beautiful and touching film, brought to us by a very talented cast. The nine year old boy playing Frankie, Jack McElhone, is just amazing. As the director, Shona Auerbach points out, since this is a silent part (Frankie is deaf), all of Frankie's acting has to be done through body language and facial expression. And Jack does this superbly. You hardly realize he does not speak throughout the movie, since his face and his gestures speak so much and convey so many emotions.
The relationship between Frankie and the stranger who is hired by his mother to play his father for one day is very believable and very moving. The stranger, a sceptic at the outset, becomes emotionally involved and while at first he does not think much of Frankie's mother for doing this, ends up respecting her and so do we, the audience. Personally, I felt I did not like Frankie's mother at first, as her motives seem unclear. We learn about her motives with the stranger, and that's when sympathy shifts.
I was also particularly impressed by the stranger's emotion in the scene where he meets Frankie: he needs to be believable, and he is very tense wondering if he has done well. I felt the tension with him. Gerald Butler is wonderful, looking handsome, tall, and reassuring, the father figure Frankie really needs.
There are so many touching moments I will let you discover for yourselves, as I don't want to spoil it for you. I will just say that the entire movie is full of twists and turns, much more than you'd expect. In the second half a surprise awaits in virtually every scene to the very end , and I also cried at virtually every one of these scenes.
"Dear Frankie" is filmed in Scotland, and features some beautiful scenery. I also enjoyed listening to the Scottish accent used throughout the film.
The additional material includes the director's commentary, an interview with the director, which I found quite interesting, and some deleted scenes, one of which at least actually reveals some insight into one of the minor characters. I'm thinking it's particularly clever to cut such a scene in the official release, and then add it to the deleted scenes section on the DVD, although I'm not sure this was intentional.
I enjoyed the movie, and I'll certainly want to rewatch it. Even though I now know about all the twists and turns in the plot, it will actually be interesting to follow the range of emotion displayed by this talented cast with all this pre-knowledge in mind.
Movie Review: A beautiful, thought-provoking film...
Summary: 5 Stars
I have to admit that the only reason I added this DVD to my Netflix queue was because Gerard Butler was in it. Having watched this film, however, I have to say that Butler is by far not the only thing that makes this wonderful story a must-see. Set in Scotland, Dear Frankie tells the story of Lizzie (Emily Mortimer) and her struggles to keep her son Frankie (Jack McElhone) away from his father. While she does that, she wants her son, who is deaf, to think he has a loving father who is always at sea and sends him letters, though she's the one who writes the letters. But the charade comes to an end when Frankie makes a bet with a classmate and Lizzie has to present a father to Frankie. So she hires a stranger (Gerard Butler) to pass as his dad. There are some twists and turns throughout the film.
This is a very thought-provoking, poignant film that shows the depths of a young woman's love for her son and how far she'd go to make her child happy. The scenes with Frankie and his pretend dad bonding are wonderful. Again, like in The Phantom of the Opera, Gerard Butler has impressed me with his acting, with his facial expressions and ability to transmit thoughts and emotions without saying a single word. I loved his facial expressions and the emotions he conveyed when Lizzie told him about Frankie's father and what he'd done to the kid. He has a very expressive (and very handsome) face and I couldn't keep my eyes off him. His nameless character remains an enigma from beginning to end. The one thing that is obvious is The Stranger's growing fondness and admiration for both Frankie and Lizzie. I was disappointed with the fact that his character doesn't enter the story until forty-five minutes into the film, but the rest of the storyline is wonderful and I was engaged throughout. Mortimer is also wonderful and she looked familiar to me. I finally remember where I'd seen her -- she had small roles in the movies Notting Hill and Scream 3. Jack McElhone is very talented for his young age and he transmitted his emotions beautifully. Overall, I loved this film and its twists at the end. I highly recommend this film. (I also recommend that, if you have trouble understanding the thick Scottish brogue, you read the subtitles.) Hollywood, take note, for this wonderful flick shows that you don't need cliche and formulaic scenes to make a movie work. This DVD is worth owning and I will definitely add it to my DVD collection.