Dear Frankie
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Movie Reviews of Dear Frankie
Movie Review: Grabs Your Heart and Hands It Back Three Sizes Larger
Summary: 5 Stars
I can't really put into words properly all the things I loved about this movie. Everything was absolutely first rate: script, acting, cinematography, the works. I thought it was much better crafted than Million Dollar Baby. It made me cry just as much in a more satisfying way because the story makes you feel deeply about the characters and their sorrows but shows them managing to some manner of resolution and healing. Without putting in a spoiler, you'll wonder how on earth they could have written a satisfying ending. But you'll love how they leave it, hopeful without going for a predictable happy ending. I also appreciated the way they explored broader themes such as how to arrive at an appropriate manner of forgiveness of truly flawed family member. For anyone who was raised Christian, I think this is a much more thoughtful film about values than The Passion, but that's just me, and I don't want to give the impression that this is a preachy film. It's about feelings more than moral lessons, and all of the performances utterly draw you in.
Though it has many funny little moments, I came away so moved that I was compelled to go for a walk along the sea to come down from the experience. I think I've only reacted that way to a film one other time in my life. I highly recommend this film and truly hope it will be widely distributed once they expand beyond the currently planned select cities. Everyone should see this film!
Movie Review: Dear Frankie "A Beautiful Film"
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen. The acting is brillant, location is awesome and the story is truly one of a kind.
As the film begins your mind goes into many different levels of wonders. Like why does Mother move her son to different places, why a son writes to a Father he has never met and what is the connection. As in real life, many parents can hurt a child, but never knows the true damage of what they have done.
Lizzie (Emily Mortimer) protects her child the only way she knows how, by running. Vowing to never let his Father see him again. Frankie (Jack McElhone) who is deaf, not only misses his Dad, but writes to him often. Hoping one day that his Dad will come home. When a friend at school shows him an articles of the exact ship coming into port in the same city that Frankie lives. When Lizzie finds out this information, she must decide what to do to cover all the steps she has taken to protect her son. She decides to hire a Dad for the day by a "stranger" (Gerard Butler). As stranger comes with no past, no present and no future, he begins to befriend Frankie as a true Father, he becomes attached not just to Frankie, but to Lizzie as well.
This story will pull at your most emotional heart strings, you will laugh and cry. I believe this is for everyone who have had difficult situation like this or not. It is a true joy and should be watch more than once.
Movie Review: I just sigh thinking of this movie
Summary: 5 Stars
Now, honestly, when I heard the premise of this movie, I thought "hokey!" It just sounded a little too corny and cliched for my cynical little tastes.
But I was seriously bowled over by how good this movie was, and the acting is what makes it so touching. The boy playing Frankie was amazing-he had this face that conveyed so much without ever speaking. His mother, played by Emily Mortimer, was heartbreaking-her slightest actions illustrated what a wounded soul she was, and yet a survivor as well. And "the stranger"-played by Gerard Butler-really does just up the emotional ante like 10 knots. As the imposter Dad, he really does figure into the most powerful scenes of the movie with his mixed feelings of wanting to distance himself and yet connect with the loveable Frankie-as well as the mother.....
This movie is a keeper-I'm buying it on amazon.com tonight cause it's one of those movies you'll easily watch more than once. While the premise sounds sorta like a lame romantic comedy set up, this isn't a romantic comedy. It's more like a very touching movie about the lengths we will go for others we love-or even have just met, like in the stranger's case. And extra points for the great chemistry between Gerard Butler and Emily M.-they really do light up the screen together and there's one scene in particular that will just make you sigh between the two of them.
Movie Review: Stamps From Exotic Ports Of Call
Summary: 5 Stars
Glasgow, where this movie is set, is a tough, industrial town. The handful of characters in this minor masterpiece are just making it, each one trying to endure the injustices life has dished out. Lizzie (played by the irresistible Emily Mortimer) and son Frankie, are engaged in a sophisticated ritual that insulates them both from the pain initiated by Frankie's father. We are never quite sure how completely Frankie believes the mythology about the letters, although it is certain that he desperately wants to believe.
With the arrival of the actual ship his father has allegedly been working on comes the inevitable end of the masquerade, and with it, some long overdue growth. The stranger, (Gerard Butler), who Lizzie has hired to impersonate Frankie's father, brings tremendous quiet dignity to the role, and his interactions with Lizzie have an understated power that electrifies the screen.
Beautifully shot, brilliantly acted, this is one of those truly rare movies worth owning and watching more than once. Dear Frankie is not remotely sentimental, but it does enrich your soul. These are real, three-dimensional people doing their best. You will care about all of them and hope desperately that things work out. Movies like Dear Frankie remind you that film is sometimes an art form, not merely a vehicle for product placement.
Movie Review: As endearing a film as you'll ever see
Summary: 5 Stars
The last time I wanted to remain in the theater to see a movie again - I think I was 12 years old (It was Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in Scared Stiff). The only thing disappointing about Dear Frankie was that it ended. I see an average of 50 movies a year and this (along with Off the Map) are the best movies I've seen in the last five years. Dear Frankie is quite simply a beautiful film: beautiful music, beautiful scenery, and beautiful characters. I didn't want it to end. There are many good reviews that tell the story as well or better than I could, and retelling the story would distract the reader from my feeling for the film. But, one little scene mght help. Frankie is 9 and deaf (we find out later why). But he is okay with his deafness in a way many of us aren't. His first day in a new school a boy sitting next to him passes him a note saying "def kid". Frankie quietly and simply takes his pencil a adds the "A" where it belongs and gives it back to the teasing boy. Nothing is said but you get a real sense of who Frankie is - and you wish he were yours. Frankie and his mom are wonderfully endearing people coping as best they can with what has happened. The shame is that this film will not be seen by a large audience. It has already left our theater, so I have to wait for the video to see it again, but if Frankie can cope, I can too.